The (faster than) Sound nin
by thekyuubivixen
Summary: My voice goes out and feel myself going under, fast. I try to get up to go to the phone, but my feet get caught in the blanket. I fall and hit my head on the ground before being pulled into the black abyss.../ The blue heroic hedgehog wakes up in a new world filled with adventure. Everything is going well, but will everything change when a snake gets involved? A darker plot later
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own neither Sonic the hedgehog characters nor Naruto characters. (I would be happy just with Sonic and Kiba, but noooooo.)**

**Pull**

It's a sunny day in Mobius. The sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and the grass is as green as ever. Of course the weather would be like that because the gang are all having a picnic on a hill outside of Station Square. Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Rouge, and heck, even Shadow is there!

Shadow is a midnight black hedgehog with a tuff of white hair on his chest and red stripes on his head quills. He is the other living being to match the great Sonic the hedgehog's speed with the help of his rocket powered boots, I might add.

Rouge is a white bat with pink wings and she goes crazy after anything that's shiny. Shadow is by Rouge talking about military stuff. You know…cuz it's like their job, or something.

Then there is Tails and Cream sitting to the right side of the first two. Tails is on orange fox with bright blue eyes, but that isn't the most noticeable thing about him, he has two tails! When he spins them helicopter style, he can actually fly.

Cream is a cute little peach colored bunny rabbit. She can fly also if she would flap her long ears. Tails is talking all geek and using big words and stuff while Cream is just listening. Or at least trying to, poor girl, he could have been planning a mass murder and she wouldn't have guessed.

Then to Tails' right there is Knuckles looking at his spiked white knuckles muttering to himself sounding something relating to the Master Emerald. Him and his stupid rock…he is a red echidna and his quills droop down looking a lot like dreads. He keeps on glaring at Shadow and Rouge, mostly Shadow, because Knucklehead has a wittle crush on Rouge, but she doesn't know that yet.

Amy, on the other side of Knuckles, is looking at the air with a faraway look in her eyes…probably daydreaming I guess. About what you ask? I don't know and don't plan to ask. She is a bright pink hedgehog with long hair and a very intense obsession. What is it you ask? I know the answer to that one…it's me!

I'm the nicest, fastest, and strongest hedgie around. And no, I am NOT overdoing it, every single word is true! Anyway, I have cobalt blue fur with the sharpest quills you can find. Seriously, even metal isn't a threat. That's one of the many reasons I won't allow Amy to touch me, to keep her from getting hurt. Ok, that's a _minor _reason, but still one nonetheless. I just put my guard up when she has that strange look in her eye.

Well I'm getting a little off topic here, the reason for this picnic is to celebrate another one of Eggman's ruined plans. It was the easiest one yet! He must be getting dumber with old age...but anyway he built a robot to try and take over the city. The problem was that Eggman never tried out the robot until he let it lose, and to our pleasure, the robot didn't even move. All I had to do was kick it and the bot went down. We all looked at Eggman, stared at each other for a moment, and then Eggman ran away screaming.

"I'll get you for that hedgehog!"

I looked at the gang, shrugged and asked, "Who wants to celebrate?" Most yelled 'yeah!' and Shads just nodding in response.

That's how we all ended up here, just chilling and me stuffing my face with the world's best chili dogs! I, always the one to start up conversation, spoke up-

"Mmmmmff mff mm mff?"

-and fail miserably because of my cheeks being swollen as a chipmunks.

"Sonic, _please _swallow whatever you have in your mouth and try again…" Rouge sighs.

I grin sheepishly, swallow, and try again. "Heh what I _meant_ to say was that I wonder if Eggamn is just gonna quit now since he just reached the pathetic stage" I chuckle. "I mean really? That bot was nothing!"

"Huh yeah I agree with you Sonic, if Egghead comes back around again, we will just laugh at him and defeat him like we always do!" Knuckles states proudly. It's always like him be so cocky…well I am too, but we aren't talking about me here!

Then Amy, coming back from her fantasy she had been in for the past 10 minutes, nods at Knuckles' statement and turns around to beam at me.

"Yeah Sonic! You show that egg what you can do; you always beat em and you always will!"

I sweat drop and before I could say anything Shadow cut in. "Hn, he wouldn't to be able to do anything without us, mostly me. Isn't that right, Faker?"

"Awwww is Shads jealous of the world's superhero?" I grin as he scoffs.

"Nowhere close."

"Come on guys! This is supposed to be a fun time, right?" Rouge pleads. "But Sonic, Shadow is kind of right here…we all help take down Eggman."

I look over to her and smile. "I know Rouge! I was just pulling Shads' leg over there."

Shadow tenses because of the nickname but before he could speak Tails cuts in. "Yeah, but Rouge last time was so easy because the rotating gears stopped working and caused the metalloid robot to dysfunction, right Cream?

Everyone just stares at Tails with confusion written on all their faces except Cream's, who nervously answers. "Yeah Tails, t-that makes perfect sense!"

We sweat drop when Tails beams at her. "See? She agrees!"

Silence hangs in the air.

I cough, "Well guys its getting kind of late." I stand up stretching while Amy watches. I inwardly shutter. "I'm about to go back home just in case to stupid, old Eggy decides to pay me a visit."

"Faker, stop underestimating him. Remember he had you trapped last month?"

"Hey! That was a fluke! How was I supposed to know-" I let out a scream and hold my head. What…what is this?

"SONIC! Sonic where does it hurt?" Tails yells as everyone jumps to come towards me.

I give him a weak glare and grit out. "My head…obviously…"

Suddenly the pain was too much and I fall back down on my knees still holding my stomach.

"Sonic, you have to tell us what's wrong so we can help you!" Knuckles pleads but I couldn't answer him, the pain is just horrible.

So I just shake my head and feel myself start to tremble. I try my hardest to stop but then the pain becomes unbearable. I strain to focus on the conversations swirling around me, but only hear part of it.

"My love! We have t-"

"Faker just had too many-"

"No, I've known Sonic for a long time and no chili dog has-"

"I agree with Tails, he has had more chili dogs than he had today before!"

"Tails and Knuckles are right Shadow, this is no food poisoning."

"H-hey! We have to help him!"

The pain is nothing I have ever experienced before; it feels like I'm being ripped apart! I can feel sweat sliding down my face and my breathing is becoming ragged and shallow. It hurt everywhere but the worst part was my head. I have a serious migraine and I try to rub my temples, but my fingers refuse to function. Now that I think about it…I can't move anything!

The tremors got stronger and the conversations are getting softer. Now I am in full fledge panic mode, not only was my hearing failing me, but now I am beginning to get tunnel vision. But I can't tell anyone, I can't speak, and moving is not even a_ possibility_ right now. It feels like I'm not even in my own body anymore; my body is starting to go numb. Is this the end?

Then there is a very sharp pain in the left side of my face. It isn't like the pain before, I will gladly take this over the other one.

Yelping, I fall on my side in the grass and my hearing and sight return. But my body is still hurting and numb.

"SHADOW! Why in the world did you just _slap him_?!" Rouge yells.

"Well it snapped him out of it, didn't it?"

Then Knuckles starts to yell next, not helping my migraine one bit… "Are you crazy? You just caused him more pain! Don't you ever think-"

"Stop…just stop." I wheeze, "Just take me…somewhere. The ground is…kind of hard, you know?" I try to laugh but it hurt and sounds like a dry cough instead.

"Ok Sonic."

Ah gotta love Tails coming up with plans so quickly. "Umm Shadow, you pick Sonic up by his left arm and I'll do the same to his right."

Shadow grunts in response while I am starting to freak out because it's going to hurt when they touch me. Maybe I'm so numb that it wouldn't hurt, but luck isn't on my side today.

As soon as Tails touches my arm, the pain increases. It is excruciating and I hold my head back in a silent scream. The others see this and freeze except Tails, who pulls back his hand.

Still panting, I hear Knuckles speak. "Well Tails, this is your first bad idea! I'm writing that down in the books!"

I hear everyone let out a forced chuckle. The pain in my arm fades and I glare at Tails the best I can in my state and it's good enough because he winces and looks away from my gaze.

"S-sorry Sonic."

Then out of all the people there, Amy speaks up. "Umm, well he did fall conveniently on the picnic blanket so if four people get each corner and two people get the sides, we should be able to lift and carry him to Tails' place since it's the closest."

Everyone looks at her, ok maybe she is useful. "Good…thinking Amy." Rouge starts. "I like her plan, come on guys, let's go. Shadow, Knuckles, Tails, and I will have the corners while Cream and Amy get the sides."

They run to their respective places and take hold of the cloth and pick me up. I let out a groan because the cloth feel like it's burning into my skin, but it isn't as intense as when Tails touched me, this I could bear.

About 10 minutes later we arrive at Tails' place. We barely fit through the door, but thankfully no one touches me on the way in. Most of the pain had subsided, not all the way gone. They unceremoniously put me down on the couch. I don't mind at all; it is better than being on the hard ground outside.

No one spoke until, "Hey Faker, can you talk right now or you going mute on us?" Shadow eyes me from afar.

"Ye-yeah." I wince, my voice is so squeaky! Clearing my throat I try again. "Yeah I can speak now…thank goodness!"

The group let go of the breath they've all been holing.

"Mister Sonic, what happened to you back there?" Cream asked hugging Cheese.

I realize that this question is on everyone's mind as they look at me quizzically. "Well, I don't really know myself. When I stoop up, some intense pain washed over me and I know it didn't have anything with the food because the pain was mostly in my head. I had a serious migraine, was sweating, and numb."

There is a collective gasp in the room.

"The worst part was that the pain didn't go away and my hearing and vision was failing me too. I couldn't move either; I was just struck facing the never ending pain. I even started to think I was about to…you know…because I was numb all over."

I glance over to Shadow who looks mildly upset, "And then for _whatever_ reason, Shadow decides it was fine and dandy to slap me. It might have looked dumb, but that's what restored my sight and hearing back. So thanks Shads."

"Anytime." Shadow smirks. I playfully glare at him.

"So, how do you feel now Sonic?" Knuckles asks.

I grin, "Better, now I just feel sore all over."

"That's good to know Sonic, you had me worried out there." Rouge says and looks at her watch. "Wow, it's already 8:45! Come on Shadow or we are going to be late for our 9 o'clock meeting."

With a grunt Shadow follows Rouge to the door. Rouge looks back and gives a wave while Shadow leaves with a nod.

A couple hours later everyone begins to filter out. Knuckles goes to watch the Master Emerald, Amy has to get home before both of her parents had cows, Cream goes home too, and Tails says he's going to the twenty-four hour store to get some headache medicine for me in case it comes back.

Now I being to feel today's effects. I am dead tired. I fluff my pillow and pull up the blanket Tails got for me from his closet. As soon as I close my eyelids, the pain comes back, ten-fold. This time I can scream and I don't care if people around the world could hear me. The migraine and blazing pain all over my body is back with a vengeance. But now, something feels different.

Something is pulling, _hard_.

My hearing is muffled, I have black spots in my vision, and I can't feel my body anymore. My voice goes out and feel myself going under, fast. I try to get up to go to the phone, but my feet get caught in the blanket. I fall and hit my head on the ground before being pulled into the black abyss.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own neither Sonic the hedgehog characters nor Naruto characters.**

**(A/N): In this fic Sasuake isn't lusting for power or revenge.**

**Sasuke: Ouch, that must have been a bad fall.**

**Sonic: (rubs head) Sure was! I think- wait… who the heck are you?**

**Sasuke: (chuckles darkly) You'll find out soon enough.**

**Sonic: (backs away slowly) Alrighty then….**

**Sasuke: You can't leave.**

**Sonic: And why not?!**

**Sasuke: (points at readers)**

**Sonic: Crap!**

**Seal**

The same day in the Naruto universe….

If is a peaceful day in Konoha, the hidden leaf village in Fire country. The wind's blowing, the sun is out and there isn't a cloud in the sky. The village starts to wake up to jump into its usual routine. The merchants and store owners are getting their shops ready and the early bird villagers are walking around. Also around this time, the ninjas of the village wake up and go to their required location to wait for their sensei to show up to go on missions.

"Uhh…" I groan as the light from my window shines on my face. Why did I have to put my bed here of all places? I roll over and blink my eyes open. It takes a few seconds but I finally make my clock and the shining green numbers.

"7:00 huh, I've got an hour."

Sitting up, I wipe the sleep from my eyes and slip from under the sheets. I stand up yawing and pushing my raven hairs to the side. I leave my room and walk quietly to the bathroom, scratching my stomach through my white t-shirt.

Wonder what kind of crap Kakashi's going to make us do today. For the past couple of weeks, all we've been doing are D rank missions while he just sits back and watch. No, he doesn't even do that. He doesn't pay attention to _us_ at all; his eyes are always glued to that book of his. If only I could get a hold of it, I could burn it to a crisp…

"That won't work." I sigh grabbing a towel. "It's never out of his sight, so I'll never get close to it before he cuts my hand off or something."

I shuffle into the bathroom and turn on the shower water. I take off my clothes and throw them into the overflowing clothes hamper. I stare at it.

"More work I'm going to have to do when I come home later."

Grumbling, I step into the warm shower spray and just stand there for a moment. I shake my head to clear my head of the lingering drowsiness from last night's dreamless sleep. About twenty minutes later I step out the shower and grab the towel.

Drying off I look into the mirror. A very pale and lean boy stares back at me, almost perfect skin. My eyes travel to my shoulder and I cover the seal with my hand.

I frown, "Stupid snake…" It hasn't been acting up lately, but it's a permanent reminder of what happened in the Forest of Death. I take a deep breath and move my hand to pick up the toothbrush.

After brushing, I go back to my room and open my closet to pull out a blue shirt with the Uchiha symbol on the back along with some darker blue shorts. After I slip on some arm warmers on, I head downstairs for breakfast.

Passing the living room and into the kitchen, I go towards the fridge, open it and pull out some sliced tomatoes. Yep, you heard right. Tomatoes are my favorite veget- I mean fruit and are healthy so why not eat them for breakfast?

I eat the slices and walk out the house. I glance back at it, frown, and head for the team seven bridge.

When I got there, no one else arrived but Sakura. She was always at the bridge first, for some odd reason. She turns to me from looking at the river below.

"Hey Sasuke! How have you been? I've been great! Yesterday I…" I block her out and retract my statement. I _know_ exactly why she's here so early. It's because I'm always the second one here, so I'm guessing without Kakashi or the Dobe here, she will have better chance with me. Too bad she never had one. She had calmed down some after the Sand and Sound invasion, but it's still annoying.

For one thing her hair is a bright pink, you could point her out in a crowd any day. Also, she talks too much. Like now, she hasn't even noticed yet that I'm not paying any attention to the words spilling out of her mouth.

I lean on the railing of the bridge, continue to tune her out and wait for the others to show up.

"and I was like OMG Ino! And she ran over to-" Ok, that's it. I can't take it anymore.

"Sakura."

She looks over to me with sparkles in her eyes. "Yes Sasuke?"

"Shut up."

She visibly deflates, "But-"

I glare and she snaps her mouth shut. With the renewed peace I close my eyes and just listen to the noises the morning brings. Ten minutes pass and I hear fast approaching footsteps and heavy breathing. I open my eyes to see the Dobe run up. I almost have to look away because of the color and brightness of his clothes. I mean come on, _orange_? How obvious can you get?

His bright blonde hair doesn't help things much either.

He runs up with a smile that threatens to split his face in half and waves. "Hey Sakura!"

She waves back. "Hey Naruto!" She has also warmed up to Naruto a bit, so she isn't completely ignoring him anymore. Then Naruto's expression dulls a bit when he turns towards me.

"Sasuke." Does he really expect me to answer? I just turn away completely ignoring him. I admit, it's entertaining lighting Naruto's short fuse.

"Dang it Teme! Can't you talk?"

I scoff, "I can, but I just don't want to waste my breath on a dobe like you."

I inwardly smirk at how red his face gets and how he thinks he'll intimidate me with his glare. He opens his mouth again, but someone cuts him off.

"Now, now Naruto, calm down." We all freeze and turn to Kakashi who is just arriving. Well this is a first. He's here on time; there has to be a reason, but what?

"Uh, Kakashi sensei?"

"Yes Sakura?"

"Are you sure there isn't any dolphins to save or did you just now figure out the right path to life?" Kakashi had that one coming; I smirk while Sakura and Naruto bust out laughing.

Kakashi just sighs. "No, I'm here to pass along some interesting information to you." That sobers me up real quick.

"What is it sensei?" Naruto asks.

"Tsunade wants everyone to meet her in the Hokage tower in about fifteen minutes. It's something important, but she hasn't told anyone, I don't even know!"

Ok, so might be a mission that's she's calling us for. I guess someone was listening to me this morning after all. Wait, is it just us or…

"Kakashi."

"Hm?"

"Who else is going?" Out of the corner of my eye I see the Dobe's mouth snap shut and he crosses his arms. Guess I stole his question.

"Oh, it's us, teams Guy, eight, and ten." I narrow my eyes. Great, not only is Sakura's squealing friend going to come, but also the Hyuuga is going to be there. It's not that I don't like him on a personal level, it's just our clans had a rivalry thing going on.

"Wow sensei! Do you think it will be some kind of huge mission? I do! Don't you Sasuke?" I tune out Sakura and focus on Kakashi.

"Honestly I don't have a clue on why all of us are needed…but a huge mission would be fun." I don't think 'fun' would be the right word to describe it, but it would change the boring atmosphere around here. Sakura and Naruto both jump up and pump their fists wooping.

Then we all leave the bridge and walk towards the tower. On the way there we meet up with Team Eight. The one ahead of the group is Kiba Inuzuka. He is a brunet with red triangles tattooed on his face. He and Naruto are good friends. I'm not surprised because they are both loud and obnoxious.

Behind him is Shino Aburame, nothing special about him except he talks to bugs. I don't want any details about that.

Walking in the back beside Kurenai is the other Hyuuga, Hinata. She's quiet and shy, thank goodness because I wouldn't been able to take another fangirl hanging off my side. In fact, I think she has a little something for Naruto, since she turns red anytime Naruto gets near.

"Hey guys! Y'all heard about the meeting? I wonder if it's a mission!"

"Hey Naruto!" Kiba shouts back. "Yeah I heard! Hopefully it's a mission so we can kick butt!" See what I mean?

"Y-yeah Naruto I-I hope we get a good m-mission…" Hinata says softly pushing her two pointer fingers together.

"Huh? Did you say something Hinata?" I have to resist the strong urge to face palm when Hinata turns red and shakes her head.

"There's no reason for us to be just standing around." Sakura says. "Let's GO!"

When we get to the Hokage's room in the tower, I see that everyone else is already there sitting at the large table in the middle of the room. Glancing around, I see that Kakashi was right. Sitting in the chairs are the rest of the Rookie 12.

The one closest is Shikamaru Nara, the laziest ninja, or person, I've ever seen. He would rather watch clouds than do anything that requires energy.

Next to Shikamaru is his chubby friend, Choji Akimichi. No matter what, he always has a bag of chips when he gets hungry.

Then there's Ino Yamanaka, Sakura's best friend and her partner in crime when it comes to bothering me. One day they would be acting like sisters, then the next they would be at each other's throats. Don't ask me how to explain that logic to you.

Tenten, like Lee Rock and Neji Hyuuga, is one year older than the rest of us, but their sensei, Guy, wanted to wait to take the chuunin exams. So, they are grouped with us usually now. Back to the girl, she's normal like Hinata with a little obsession with weapons.

Lee Rock is the spitting image of his sensei and I find that disturbing. Actually, everything about him makes me feel that way, from the massive eyebrows to the green spandex.

Lastly is _the_ Hyuuga. He is Hinata's cousin and since the exams, has been very protective of her. He speaks only when he needs to or when he takes a jab at me. And I do the same. The jonin are all standing up around the table.

At the end of the table is the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. She waits for us to take a seat before speaking.

"Ah I see all of you made it on time!" She says for the whole room to hear, but I know to whom that statement is really directed to.

"Aww Tsunade! You know how black cats go! And those pesky ladders…"

"Nope! Don't want to hear it! But anyway, down to business." She pauses for dramatic effect, but it didn't work because a certain blonde is impatient.

"Come on old lady! We all are on the edges of our seats here-" Then Sakura reaches over to punch Naruto on the head. I've gotten used to it by now. "Oww…Sakura, what was that for?" He whines.

"That's for disrespecting the Hokage idiot!" I shake my head and can't let this opportunity pass.

"Hn…Dobe."

Naruto whips his head around to face me. "I AM NOT A DOBE! You TEME!" Everyone watching sweat drops.

"Troublesome…" mutters Shikamaru.

"EVERYONE QUIET!" yells Tsunade. They turn towards her and I was about to when I see Naruto still glaring at me. I roll my eyes and finally give her my full attention.

"Ok, a team of ninja have just come back from a faraway mission and have found something real interesting. Shizune."

"Here." Shizune hands over a scroll to Tsunade.

"This is the scroll the ninja found. After looking at it, I found out it's a jutsu for a summon."

A summon? If it's one of those, why did she call all of us here for this?

"Ah confused faces galore, the point to this is for all of y'all to summon whatever is in here."

"Wait, why all of us?" Neji asks.

"One, because I can tell a lot of chakra is needed for this to crack, and two, because y'all are the only ninja without any missions right now."

No arguing with that logic. But how does she know that the creature coming out is all friendly, or going to go on a murder spree? I decide to voice my thoughts.

"Well Uchiha, that's where they," She points to the jonin. "come in. If it rampages then you will have powerful ninja to help."

Is it just me, or did she just imply that I'm weak? By that smirk of hers, I don't think it's all that farfetched.

"Oh! Before I forget, this is going to be a long term mission. Over the span of about a month."

"What! Why?"

"Because Inuzuka, y'all will be testing its usefulness and train it to full potential, if it needs it that is."

"So, we are going to try out a new summon! Awesome, I'm in!" Naruto shouts.

"It's not like you had any other choice brat, but alright! Does everyone agree?" Various forms of agreement sounds from the others while I'm still on the fence about the whole thing. Mostly is where are we going to keep the thing? It's most likely going to be huge like Naruto's giant toad.

My thoughts get interrupted by an elbow that jabs me in my side, courtesy of Naruto. He looks at me expectantly. I shrug.

"I don't see why not."

Tsunade claps her hands. "Great let's all meet at Team Seven's clearing around 7 in the evening, for y'all to have as much rest as possible."

I sit up on my futon that's in the living room. I stretch and look at the clock, 6:30, plenty of time to get to the clearing. I grab the pillow I used and put it back in the only bedroom downstairs.

I then leave and start walking towards our clearing.

After Tsunade dismissed us, I tried to disappear unnoticed. That didn't happen because Sakura and Ino came up to me and wouldn't leave me alone. Because Sakura was with me, Naruto came along also.

I came up with a plan though, but I had to take the long way home. I passed by the shopping districts, got rid of Ino and Sakura. I also walked by the ramen stand, got rid of Naruto. At home, I just ate some stuffed tomatoes for lunch.

I hear voices and look up to see that I've arrived at the place. Everyone seems to be there. Apparently, they were waiting on me.

"Well look who decided to show up!" Kiba taunts and Akamaru yips on top of his head.

I send him a withering glare, they all were just ridiculously early.

"Now that everyone's here, are you done with the preparations old hag?" Naruto shouts over.

"Just wait a sec! Almost done."

"Just hurry up-"

Neji turns to Naruto. "God Naruto, can't you be quiet for once?" Now Neji's talking my language.

"Yeah Dobe, I'm going to have to agree with him with this one." Naruto looks back and forth between me and Neji.

"Hey! Two against one is hardly even fair…"

"Ahem, if y'all are down arguing GET OVER HERE AND FORM A FREAKIN CIRCLE AROUND THE SEAL!" Tsunade orders.

Frantically, we form a circle around the seal and then Tsunade explains to us that all we have to do is to pour as much chakra as we can into our feet. Again, a certain blonde gets impatient.

"Ok, ok! We get it! Can we start now?"

"Quiet brat! Yes, y'all can start now."

With that cue, I start to push my chakra downwards into my feet. I glance up to see everyone else doing the same. This goes on for a couple seconds until the seal starts glowing on the ground.

"WE ARE DOING IT! We're doing it with all of our youthful energy!"

"Lee, stay focused!" Guy shouts.

"Right!"

After that little outburst, I go back to concentrate on my chakra. The seal starts to glow brighter and brighter. We are so close to cracking this thing. Well, that's what I was thinking until I feel the flash of pain across my face.

I lose my focus and bring my hand up to my left cheek. What…was that? Did somebody…? No, that isn't it, nobody's even close enough! Looking around, I see that everyone else is more or less in the state of confusion I'm in.

"What a drag, getting attacked this early in the mission…"

"Yeah!" Sakura agrees. "I'm the slapper, not the one getting slapped!"

"Everyone, focus! Try to complete the process!"

Agreeing with Tsunade, we all go back to controlling our chakra. This goes on for about thirty seconds before the seal _explodes_.

I yell being flung back ten feet because of the shockwave. I must have handed wrong on my hand because I feel a _very_ sharp pain my pointer finger. I hold it up and wince, yep it's broken. I can't just pop it back in place this time. Sighing, I stand up, dust myself off and look around the clearing. Coughing a little because of the dust, I squint and hear off to the side Naruto gasping.

"No way…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Me not owning didly squat goes for all chapters in this fanfic. I'm too lazy to copy and paste….**

**Sonic: What!? What happens next? Come on I'm on the edge of my seat here!**

**Sasuke: Calm down, I'm pretty sure it's coming up.**

**Sonic: How can you be so calm about this?**

**Sasuke: (shrugs) These things aren't out of the ordinary in my world.**

**Sonic: Solid excuse….and question.**

**Sasuke: What?**

**Sonic: Tomatoes, obsession much?**

**Sasuke: Shut up.**

**Break**

"No way! No freaking _way_! We did all that for nothing?" Naruto yells and I agree with him this time. In the middle of the clearing, the seal is worn down a little, but not much. I hear noises of agreement from the others.

"I wasted my chakra for this?" Ino whines and from the looks on the other's faces, I can say they agree with her.

"Yeah what the heck?" Kiba speaks up. I turn from Kiba to the seal. There can be many reasons it didn't work, but I can only think of one.

"Maybe it's a dud?" Tsunade looks at me and shakes her head.

"No." No? Then why…?

"It's because something in there resisted." Kakashi explains further. "If it was a dud, it would have broken with no problem. What happened?"

"Well the gist is that we all got hit while we were transferring chakra." Choji answers.

"That's what it was then, well that caused you to lose focus and made the seal explode." Asuma says puffing out smoke. This is just fantastic, summon that doesn't want to do its job.

"Wait, Kakashi sensei, when can we try again? I know not right now, but will it be today or tomorrow?" Naruto looks over at Kakashi expectantly.

The jonin in question shrugs and turns toward Tsunade. "You're the doctor here."

Tsunade examines all of us and I look around only to cringe. Everyone has minor cuts, bruises, and dirt everywhere from the explosion and fall afterwards. It seems that I am the only to have anything broken.

"To answer your question Naruto and looking at the rest of you, I'll give you about four hours to freshen up. It's 7ish right now, so come back at 11 to try again. It's going to hopefully work this time because the jonin are going to help instead of standing by this time. I'm 99% sure that all of you combined will have enough chakra to break this thing."

"Che, that's what you said last time…" Neji mutters under his breath beside me.

Tsunade gets a tick on her forehead. "What was that Hyuuga?"

Now Neji looks nervous, "Nothing! It was nothing."

"That's what I thought. Now everyone go! Shoo and heal up."

With that, the others turn to go back to their respectable homes. I wait until I'm sure no one is going to linger behind before walking over to Tsunade to heal my broken finger. What? I am not going to have anyone else around to witness this, my pride would've been at stake.

After ten minutes of Tsunade healing my finger, I am fit to go home. I leave the clearing and walk the streets of Konoha. I take a look at my hand and realize how good of a healer that woman is. There isn't any evidence the digit was ever broken. I continue walking and, not paying attention, walk straight into somebody.

"Oh sorry sir…" Oh I know that voice. How can I forget that loud mouthed idiot?

"Hn, just get out of my way."

"Teme? Never mind! I take my apology back, you idiot!"

I sneer, "It's not good to talk about yourself, Dobe."

Face red, he glares at me and walks away, but not before he quickly glances at my fixed hand. I raise an eyebrow but he had already turned away. No one knows what goes on in that idiot's head.

Walking home, I suddenly realize that I'm hungry, _really_ hungry. What do I even have to eat? I can't eat tomatoes for dinner, it isn't heavy enough. Hmm, oh I still have some fish that I had bought yesterday. I can just warm that up.

I step inside and head straight to the kitchen peeling off my dirty shirt and fling it on the chair next to the table in the middle of the kitchen. I slide my fingers through my hair going towards the fridge. Uh, there's a knot…

Opening the fridge, I grab the half eaten fist and close the door with my foot. I walk to the microwave, don't feel like using the oven right now, and shove the fish inside. Closing the door, I set the timer for one and a half minutes. I lean back against the counter and try to smooth my hair out. I finally do just to find another one.

I sigh, "It's no use."

I look at the microwave when it dings. I take the plate out only to quickly place it on the table before it could burn my hand.

"Jesus! Stupid microwave…"

I fully understand that it is no way the microwaves fault be I just needed something else to take the blame at the moment.

Shaking my hand a little, I pull out the drawer to get a fork and go to the cabinet to get a cup. I fill it up with water and sit down at the table.

Hopefully the fish cooled down enough so I won't scald my tongue in the process. I take bite and relax, no burning today.

Ten minutes later I finish my dinner and go upstairs, taking my rancid shirt with me. Entering the bathroom, I stop cold. I knew I was supposed be doing something, somewhere. I toss my shirt on the now overflowing bin and pick it up. Walking carefully down the stairs, I make my way over to the door and skillfully put my shoes back on. Shifting the bin some, I manage to open the door and walk into the cooling evening air.

Eventually I make it to an apartment complex. I climb the stairs two floors before going off in the hallway. Hopefully he's in his apartment and not of somewhere doing who-knows-what. I'm hoping he's here because I'm down to my last shirt and I plan on wearing that out later on tonight. I ring the doorbell and just leave. I do this all the time coming to Iruka's apartment.

What? There is nothing wrong about having my old academy teacher doing my laundry. And besides, he drops the clothes off in the morning, no issue.

Making it back to my house, I don't go back inside, but jump and land on the roof. I lie down with my hands behind my head and take a deep breath of the crisp air. Looking up, I see not a cloud in the sky and the blues and oranges that make up the sunset.

"-uke!" I jerk awake. When did I fall asleep? That seal thing must have taken a toll on my body to have me fall asleep like that.

"Uchiha!"

Groggily, I sit up and lean over the edge only to see Shikamaru and Choji looking up at me.

"Come on!" Shouts Choji. "It's almost time to meet up!"

Really? I glance up to see no trace of blue or orange, just the millions of starts decorating the sky. I'm glad they woke me up.

I jump down. "Wait a minute. Gotta get a shirt." They nod and I jog into my house. I make my way to my room and pull out another shirt to put on. I walk back out to see them still waiting.

"Let's go."

We start walking and it's quiet until Choji speaks up. "Wow Sasuke, I would expect Shikamaru to be sleeping on the job, but you? Never thought I'd see the day."

"I don't know what happened." I shrug. "Just fell asleep."

Shikamaru shakes his head, but I can see a hint of a smile on his face. "Troublesome…"

When we finally make it to the field, I see that everyone is there except for the Dobe and dog boy.

Figures.

"What's the matter Uchiha? Looks like you just woke up." Neji walks up, smirking. I just roll my eyes at him.

Choji chuckles, "That's because he did. We had to wake him up."

Neji raises an eyebrow, smirk still planted on his face. I ignore him and walk back to my place around the circle I was earlier today. Looking around, I see the others at their places as well. Now we just have to wait for thing 1 and thing 2 to arrive.

As soon as I finish that thought, I see them two walk up.

"It's about time you two showed up!" Sakura says with a frown.

"Sorry," Apologizes Kiba. "but someone here was moving at a snail's pace and I didn't want to leave him." Naruto smiles sheepishly.

"Heh, thanks for that buddy."

Kiba slaps Naruto on the back. "No problem!"

"If you two love birds are finished," I smirk when both Naruto and Kiba wince. "we would want to start on this stubborn seal again; it's already weakened from earlier." Tsunade comments.

I take a look at the seal at the ground and she wasn't lying, it's still intact but it had faded a good amount.

"Come on Naruto! All of our YOUTHFULL energy will break this thing for sure!" Lee proudly exclaims.

Naruto and Kiba hurry to their places so Lee doesn't have to do anymore of his loud mini speeches about youth. From my place, I see that Kakashi, Asuma, Guy, and Kurenai had joined us around the circle. Looking up, I spot Tsunade up in a tree I guess to observe any changes to the seal from a good vantage point.

I hear mumbles and I turn back to the others to see that everyone, even Neji and Shino, is excited for what's to come. I let out a small smile. I couldn't hardly wait either.

"Everyone ready?" Affirmatives sounded all round. "Then get to it!"

Then I close my eyes and push most of my chakra to my feet towards the seal. Is it just me, or does this seem easier and less tiring? I know the jonin are helping this time, but this is ridiculously easy.

We continue to do this for five minutes now. Just standing and concentrating. My patience has been stretched thin, and when I open my mouth a _very _light enters my retinas.

"Agh!"

I moan in pain as my eyeballs take an unnecessary beating. I hear the others do the same thing as well as a thud from nearby. I guess the Hokage fell out the tree.

Opening my eyes, I search the clearing for the creature. I am deeply disappointed at what I see. It's tiny, barely moving, and from this far away, it looks like a rat! This thing resisted us the first time? We all had wasted our time with this.

Looking around, I see that the girls are eyeing it in awe or admiration, while the boys are glaring at it in agitation. Tsunade wipes herself off as she gets up and I hear Naruto snicker beside me.

"Everyone stay where you are!" Tsunade half whispers, half shouts. "I want to see if it's dead or not." But before she can take her first step, Akamaru jumps off Kiba's head and bounds over to the...thing.

"Akamaru!" Kiba tries recall him, but Akamaru ignores Kiba and stops short in front of the creature. No one moves, not even Tsunade or Kiba, and watch with held breaths. Which I don't know why, I could take it on with hands tied around my back.

Akamaru gives a curious sniff and licks it. He waits. When nothing happens, Akamaru turns toward Tsunade, sits down, and lets out a happy bark.

They relax and Tsunade goes over to look it over.

"Ok, it's just out cold. You can come over closer if you want to."

We all slowly go forward and I can make it out better. It looks a little shorter than us genin and it has large head quills and smaller body ones with pointed ears on top of its head. It's slender with white gloves and red shoes that I've never seen before. But the unusual thing is its color, it has bright cobalt blue fur. I retract my statement before, this isn't a rat, but close enough.

When Ino and Sakura finally get close enough, the silence gets broken.

"Oh my God!" They squeal at the same time. "It's SO cute!"

I look over and scowl at them. We aren't looking for a house pet here.

Neji scoffs. "It doesn't matter if it's _cute_ or not, what matters is that it looks more like a specialized per than anything." I glance over to him with a frown. How did he do that?

"Awww Neji! Can't you see this…thing is full with youthful energy?" Lee gushes. Neji looks at Lee for a second, then turns back to the rat-lookalike.

"What I need to know is," Choji starts. "what are we gonna do with it? The-" Then Kakashi interrupts him.

"The thing is a he."

We all look at him, but don't question.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Choji continues. "Ok then, what are we gonna do with him? We can't just leave him out here, and I don't think we can just poof him away this time with all the chakra we used to get him here."

"Choji's right. Can't leave him out her because don't summons come out up and running? This guy might be hurt since he kinda isn't moving right now."

This is a good point, where can we take him? I'm pretty sure Konoha's population will appreciate a blue whatever it is running around the place.

"Yeah we need to take him somewhere…but where? You're the animal expert around here. Do we need to take him to the hospital or a vet?" Naruto asks.

Kiba looks shocked for a second, then he goes into deep thought but Tsunade answers for him. "We need to keep him out of public's eye for a while. What would they say if they saw him running around in the streets?" I totally agree. "Exactly, so we need to a secluded place that's big enough to house all of you, and yes y'all are staying together to test him." So we need a place that no one would come to and that's big…enough…..to…._OH NO_! She is not…!

She looks at me with a glint in her eyes. "Yes, Uchiha, you got it right. Everyone's staying at your place!"

"But Tsunade-"

"No BUTS Uchiha!"

"But…"

"_Shut up!" _


	4. Chapter 4

**Sonic: Oh no! I'm out for the count! **

**Sasuke: (in his emo corner) At least everyone isn't going to **_**invade**_ **your privacy and **_**cram **_**into your home!**

**Sonic: Well, from what I've seen, your house looks pretty big…**

**Sasuke: That is **_**not **_**the point!**

**Sonic: Calm down! They're your friends, aren't they?**

**Sasuke: …**

**Sonic: …**

**Sasuke: Fine. But it doesn't mean I like it.**

**Sonic: Yes! Score for Sonic!**

**Company**

After the others keep on pestering me on letting them stay at my house, I finally agree. Or more like ignoring them when they ask and not saying no.

"Ok!" Naruto shouts. "Now that's done! How are we going to get him there?" He turns to ask me.

"What?" I glare at him. "Well _I'm_ going to carry him to _my _home, so I can put him where I want to put him."

When Naruto is about to open his mouth to protest, a hand covers it. "Naruto, the fact that we got him to even let that thing in his house was a feat in itself, and getting all of us to stay also was near impossible. So please don't make him change his mind, Ok? Man this is such a drag…" Shikamaru mutters. Good thing he came, because if Naruto said another thing, I was going to call the whole thing off.

"Fine." Naruto grumbles.

I smirk at him and then go to pick him up when Hinata stops me.

"Wait!"

We all turn to her and she looks like she scared herself. She continues, but much quieter. "Sh-shouldn't we give him a n-name?" I just stare at her. Should we give him a name? At this rate, I don't even know how long I'm gonna have to live with him. So why not?

"Spike! I think we should call him Spike because of the things on his head!" Spike, it's an okay name, but I can't think of another one right now. But a certain pink haired girl has a different idea.

"Spike?" She spits out the name in disdain. "No! I have a better one. How about Blue?" Kiba looks disgusted.

"Oh no! Spike is a better name!"

"Blue!"

"Spike!"

"_Blue!"_

"_Spike!"_

"BLUE!"

"SPIKE!"

"Sakura, Kiba, will you both _shut up_?" Tsunade orders. "Look, if you want to name him _that_ badly, let's do a vote. The people who want him named Blue, go stand by Sakura. People who want him named Spike, go stand by Kiba."

We stand around thinking a while before deciding to split up. They are both names I wouldn't name anyone, but I go stand with Kiba because his is more masculine sounding.

After a bit, everyone has made their choice. On the side with Sakura is herself, Ino, Kurenai, Asuma (I have a strange suspicion that he didn't do it on his own free will), Lee, Hinata, Shino, and Choji. On our side, there is Kiba, me, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Guy, Naruto, Neji, and Tenten. Looks like a tie.

I watch Naruto turn towards Tsunade with a pleading look. She shrugs. "Oh no…I'm not getting involved in this. Since it is tie, I guess you are going to have to wait until he wakes up so he can pick." We all sigh and Neji speaks up.

"So we just wasted our time here, again?"

Kakashi turn to face him with his eye in an upside down 'U'. "Pretty much!"

"Che, figures."

"Oh yeah! The jonin, come here!"

Kakashi, Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai all go to Tsunade. Wonder what she wants with them?

"I broke four branches off the tree I was in before I climbed down." Naruto snickers again. "We only need one of you to stay with the genin. I know they can take care of themselves, but now we have an unknown creature with them and I want them to be safe if Blue/Spike goes on a rampage. So pick one!"

She holds four sticks so the bottoms are out of sight and the tops you could see are equal height. While they pick and compare them, I'm secretly hoping that Guy doesn't come. My wish is granted when Kakashi has the shortest one. The man in question turns and faces us.

"I hope we'll have fun, hm?"

With that little event over, I bend over to pick the guy up. Putting my arms under him, I pick him up bridal style.

"Need help Teme?" Naruto asks beside me. Who does he think he is talking to?

"No." Naruto just shrugs.

"Suit yourself."

We catch up to the others walking towards the manor. Crap, I picked him up the wrong way. He is light, but his elbow is digging into my chest, making this trip very uncomfortable. I go a few more feet then decide to move him into a better position.

I slid him a little before something cuts deep into my arm.

"Agh! The heck?"

I drop him and survey the damage. My right forearm has a deep gash and is bleeding profusely. What does that thing have on him? He just missed a major vein! I glare at the stupid thing, not moving to pick it up.

"Sasuke, what happened?" Kakashi asks as he walks over. I hold out my right arm, wincing at the pain. This cut is deep! "Tsunade, we need your help over here." He calls.

"Ok, wow! That is deep! What caused this?" She looks at me and I turn away. This is hurting my pride a little too much for my liking. Apparently Naruto decides to answer for me.

"The little guy was kind of in an awkward position and when Sasuke moved him this happened."

"Well," Tenten starts. "I hide weapons on me all the time, so what's stopping him? I bet could hide anything in his thick fur of his."

"You're right Tenten." Kakashi says while watching Tsunade heal my arm. "Now the problem is what is he hiding?"

"I'll take a look!" Naruto offers. He bends down to the creature and inspects him, without touching of course. He sighs. "I don't see anything, and I don't want to take any chances reaching in there. So what are we going to do now? We can't carry him…and I think Sasuke did something to the guy's ankle."

I glare at Naruto. How does he know that I did something to him? "How do you know something's wrong with his ankle?" Naruto steps aside and now I see that his ankle is indeed bending the opposite way it was supposed to be going. Oops.

"I don't think his ankle was that way when you first got him, riiight?" Naruto taunts.

I just look away and mutter, "Serves him right…" I know I am being unreasonable, but come on, he _sliced_ my arm open!

"Sasuke!" I wince at her incredibly loud voice. "He doesn't deserve that! He looks like he has been in a lot of pain lately, poor little guy."

"Youthful friends!" Everybody tenses, but is goes unnoticed by Lee. "I have a GREAT solution to the problem! All we have to do is drag him by the legs!" Did he miss what the part where I broke the guy's foot?

Kiba recovers from the blinding smile just produced, "Well Lee, that would be a good idea and all, but his ankle is broken and I don't to worsen it. But we can carry him by his arms…"

"I can take one arm!" Naruto offers, again, and turns towards me as Tsunade steps away. "Do _you_ want to help carry _him_ to _your_ house Teme?" Is he seriously mocking me? You know what, I'm not going to sink down to his level.

"Hn." I bend over to pick up one arm, but stop when I see Naruto not making a move. "Well?" That brought Naruto back to us and we both take an arm each. We nod to the others and we continue to my house.

This guy better watch out, because he has gotten on an Uchiha's bad side.

When we finally we arrive at my doorstep, I drop the arm I was holding and get the key out of my pocket. I bring it up the door and freeze when I hear a moan behind me. I slowly turn around to see everyone else tense and looking at the body Naruto is still holding.

We all just stare for a few seconds before Naruto lets out a sigh of relief. "Don't worry guys, he isn't waking up."

"Hey! I wasn't worried! I'm excited, and can't wait until he wakes up!" Kiba boasts.

I shake my head and turn back to the door. This guy isn't even a big deal. "Whatever, I'm just still mad he cut my arm."

"B-But, it w-was an accident…" Hinata reminds me and I glare at her. She shrinks back a little.

"Can you open the door now Uchiha? It is one in the morning." Neji complains. I scoff, open the door, and then go back to pick up the hanging arm again.

Everyone steps inside and Ino squeals, "OMG! This place is _huge_!" I ignore her and nudge Naruto to follow me. We walk to the guestroom on this floor and behind me I hear Shikamaru speak, I guess everyone's following.

"Tsunade, are you staying here too?"

"No, I'm not staying. I'm just here now to make sure all of you get alright and to put a cast on his broken ankle." I hear her pat something, Must have been the carrying bag she has on her.

We go past the kitchen and into the hallway that has the room. I open the door to the bland room and walk to the closet. I pull out an old, raggedy sheet and spread it over the bed.

"Tch, you can tell he isn't an animal person." Tenten mutters. I turn around to look at her and gesture to the unconscious body that's covered in dirt and reeks.

"What? Look at him, he's filthy."

"Gotta agree with Uchiha there." Neji agrees eyeing the heap of dirty blue by Naruto. See? I'm not the only one.

"Yeah." Naruto hesitantly agrees also. "When do we get to clean him, old hag?" Tsunade glares at him.

"Only clean hem when he's awake and when he agrees to it. I don't want him to go bonkers if he wakes up in the tub. Hurry and put him on the bed so I can fix him up a little." I check the bed one more time before going back over to Naruto.

"Ok Teme, on three. One, two, three!" With a grunt we heave the animal onto the bed. Said animal groans a bit and Tsunade comes over to start her work on him.

"While I work on him, you all go get supplies from your houses that will last a while. Guy, Kurenai, and Asuma, you guys can go home now since you know what's going on." The others walk out and before I walk out, Tsunade speaks up. "Wait Uchiha, you're going to help me with him."

"What? Why? Wouldn't Sakura be a better choice?" That makes perfect sense. Sakura's the one training to be a medic ninja, not me.

"I don't need you to heal, just to hold his ankle in place while I do it. Also, I picked you because you are the host, are you not?" She turns to me with a devious grin. There is no way to get out of this one. I slump my shoulders.

"Fine."

Ten minutes later, I walk out while Tsunade stays to perform other tests on him. I exit just in time just to hear excited voices leaving to house.

"Hopefully Sasuke doesn't hurt him even more than he his." Is that Shino? I'm impressed. I thought it would be like chapter ten before he would say anything. Other voices respond, but they are already outside the house, so I couldn't understand them.

With a sigh, I go back into the living room and sit on the futon. If today is only the beginning, I don't want to know what comes next.

About an hour and a half later, people start pouring back in with bags and suitcases.

"W-Where do we p-put these?" Hinata shyly asks. I open my eyes and shake my head.

"Just hold on to them until everyone gets here." She nods and starts to talk with Sakura and Ino. The last genin to arrive is Naruto. Notice, I say _genin_ for a reason. Kakashi is nowhere to be found.

Everyone is sitting on the couches by this time waiting for Kakashi. Thirty minutes pass when he finally decides to show up.

"Sorry guys! I was-"

He starts, but Naruto interrupts him. "LIAR!"

Kakashi sweat drops. "But I didn't give an excuse yet…"

"Didn't have to." And Naruto just leaves it at that. I then hear Tsunade walking towards us. She looks a little worn, but its three o'clock in the morning, who wouldn't be?

"Good news is that he doesn't have any other major injuries. I put a cast on his ankle and it's safe for him to walk on it. It should heal in about three days because I used a little chakra to speed up the healing process; I didn't want to use a lot because I don't know what a large amount of chakra will do to his system. The bad news is that his vocal cords are strained for some reason and they won't work for some time. So, he won't be making any animal sounds any time soon. On that note, Kiba."

The boy in question perks up. "Yeah?"

"You can understand animals, right?" He nods. "Good, cause if we are going to test and train him, we would need some communication going on." We all sit in silence soaking up all the details passed onto us. Wait, what tests?

"What do you mean by test?" I ask with an eyebrow raised.

"What I mean is sparring with him to see what he's made of."

"Or to see if he's just a useless animal." I mumble and either they don't hear me or just they just choose to ignore me, I can't tell.

Tsunade claps her hands and smiles. "That said, I'm out, gotta go to sleep so I can get back to hokage stuff tomorrow. I'll do checkups once in a while." She makes her leave and as soon as the door closes, the room explodes with an excited voice.

"Oh yeah! We get to test our STRENGTH AGAINST A WORTHY OPPONENT! I wish he will wake up now so-"

"Lee!" Naruto grabs him and pulls him down from standing on the coffee table. "Calm down! I won't be surprised if he comes out of that room right now! And aren't you tired?"

Lee yawns. "Well now that you mention it…"

Naruto grins knowingly. "I'm pretty sure everyone else is in the same condition?" The others nod. "Ok the, Teme! Show us our rooms!" I glare at him. Where does he get all this energy from?

"Fine, get all your stuff and follow me." I wait a second before making my way upstairs. I stop at the top and wait for all the others to get here so I won't have to repeat anything.

"This hallway has all of the room and there are bathrooms. One to the right and another to the left to where we stand. Take any room you want except for the one on the very end on the right, that's my room."

"I get the one closest to the bathroom!" Naruto yells and Sakura follows up with a "And I get the one across from Sasuke's!"

"Whatever Billboard brow! I get the one beside his!" Ino skips to her room and Sakura follows going to hers. Eventually everyone else goes into their rooms and I sigh. What have I gotten myself into?

I quietly walk to my room in enter. I slip off my last shirt before throwing it on the ground near the bed. I change into my looser and more comfortable shorts and get into bed. I fall asleep before my head hits the pillow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sasuke: So you're not talking to me now?**

**Sonic: (crosses arms and glares)**

**Sasuke: Ugh! You're acting like it's all my fault!**

**Sonic: (glares harder) You dropped me and broke my foot. How it that not your fault?**

**Sasuke: That's because you decided to cut **_**my **_**arm! So this is technically your fault.**

**Sonic: (turns away)**

**Sasuke: (puts face in hand) You're impossible.**

**Waking**

All I feel is, no that's wrong, I don't feel. Everything is numb. All I feel is the softness under me and the warmth of the sun on my face. Where am I? I'm probably in the Station Square hospital, or better yet still on the couch in Tails' house.

That reminds me. Man! That pain hurt like hell! I'm just glad it's finally gone. Tails must have gotten Rouge to help if I'm still at his place, she's good with this kind of stuff.

Ok, now the sun is getting on my nerves. Can't someone just turn it off? And I feel a draft…groaning, I try to open my eyes which feel like they weigh one hundred pounds. I finally get them open and blink some to clear the blurriness in my vision. I take a good look around and realize something.

I don't know where I am!

Apparently I am in a pretty boring room with a window that's cracked open with the sunlight pouring through. That explains the draft, but that doesn't explain why I'm here. Did I get kidnapped by Eggman? I seriously wouldn't put it past him, all the hell I put him through.

Slowly, I sit up, and for the first time, see a cast covering my calf and everything lower. What did I do that? Drawing a blank, I move my foot a little and wince. Yep, it's broken. Crap, that means no running anytime soon.

I cough and flinch when my throat starts to burn. Ugh! What _else_ is wrong with me? Whatever, I'm pretty sure I'll heal up. Pretty sure.

Sniffing, I smell the best breakfast food there is: bacon! Oh, there is pancakes and other stuff too, but that isn't important. I search the room and find a clock on the nightstand. Two in the afternoon? It's not even breakfast anymore!

Careful not to move my foot much, I swing my legs over the bed and stand up. Seeing that I won't fall over, I shuffle towards the door. But before I open it, I hear voices and that sobers me up a bit. Whoever's in there did all this to me. I'm broken and I'm positive this is nowhere near my home. Curiosity, however, takes over and I lean my ear on the door to hear better.

"Wow Sakura! I didn't know you could cook so well!" That doesn't sound like Eggman, so that option goes out the window. In fact, that sounded like a kid! Wait, let's not be rash, my ears could be failing me here.

A girl laughs. "Thanks Naruto! Breakfast is my specialty!" Then a completely different voice speaks up.

"Hn, the pancakes are good…" Silence. Ok, there are only three people in there. I can take them on, even with a broken foot!

Opening the door silently, I make it down the hallway. I get to the end and peek around the corner. I retract my previous statement. I only _heard_ three voices, but there are at least _thirteen_ people there sitting at a huge table in the middle of the kitchen. I gulp, time to regroup.

I tried not to make any noise, I really did.

I turn around and walk into a small table I _swear_ wasn't there before. It makes a little scrapping sound and I curse my luck. Maybe they didn't hear me? I glance behind me to see thirteen pairs of eyes on me. _Ah hell. _I stand there looking at them while they sit there staring at me. I start to get a little nervous.

Then the only adult stands up and goes to the stove. He has gray hair that defies gravity, but not really surprised about it (cough, Shadow, cough). The weirdest thing is that he has a mask that covers the bottom half of his face and a head band that covers one his eyes. I glance over to see that the others are watching the gray haired man with confusion written on their faces. I look back to the man and almost jump out of my skin. He is currently only a couple feet in front of me.

How did he _do _that?

I look up and he smiles, or what I think he does, don't know with that mask. "Hey there, I know it's weird waking up in a stranger's house." Really? Really now? "But we all are here to help you, well except Sasuke over there." He points behind him, but I don't look. Not what happened after I took my eyes off him the first time.

He must have gotten a little freaked out by my constant stare because he laughs nervously.

"Here…you must be hungry." He places the plate of pancakes, bacon, and fruit in front of me and nudges it a bit closer. I make no move to take it though, I see him smile again and head back to his seat. The others at the table aren't looking anymore, but no one is trying to start up a conversation either.

I look down at the plate. I am really hungry…no. I can't. No knows what he put in the pancakes! That moment I glanced away from gave him more than enough time to throw some poisons in there. Better safe than sorry!

Am I paranoid? A little bit.

It takes all my self-control to keep from devouring the food right then and there. I turn around, taking one last look at the people eating and see that a blonde haired kid with scars on his face is staring back at me. I bristle my hairs some then turn around to shuffle my way back into the room.

Once I close the door, I slide down to the ground. I sigh and bump my head against the door. I knew it! That kid was watching if I would eat the food or not, and I know now that it is poisoned! My stomach growls. Now I have to deal with this problem…

"I don't think he likes us." I perk up. That voice belongs to the same kid from before, Naruto.

"Seriously? I never would have guessed." I heard that one before also.

"No one asked you Sasuke teme!" Sasuke? That's the person the man told me to watch out for. I think I have to be cautious around every single one of them!

"Whoa, calm down everyone! I just thought of something." A new voice speaks up. It's gruff and deep. "We forgot to ask him what name we should name him!" Wait a minute. Name? I'm not someone's pet! And how long are they going to keep me here anyway?

"Kiba." Someone yawns. "We don't even know if he understands us."

"Well, we'll see won't we?"

"I'LL GO ASK HIM!" I wince, with a voice like that, I _really_ don't want to get involved with whoever that is. My wish comes true when that girl before (Sakura?) stops the loud mouth.

"I don't think that's a good idea Lee." Sakura says. "We don't want you scaring the guy any more than he is right now. Let me do it." I then hear footsteps coming down the hallway towards my room. I scoot away from the door, listening as the steps stop in front of my door. She clears her throat. "Hey…my friends have been discussing what to call you. We are torn between Spike and Blue. If you like the first one, knock once, the second one, knock twice."

I am really, I mean _really_ tempted not to do anything. However, I would like to have a temporary name and Blue doesn't sound _too_ bad. So when I hear her sigh and start to walk away, I scoot back to the door and knock twice.

The footsteps stop for a second, until she breaks into a sprint down the hall shouting, "He wants to be called BLUE, Kiba! BLUE! Not Spike!" A series of 'aww mans' and 'heck yeahs' follow. I just shake my head.

It's now four in the afternoon and I'm lying in the bed staring at the ceiling like I have for the past two hours. I decided to get my butt off the floor when I heard the others move from the kitchen to another room away from mine. I haven't heard a peep from them since. I know they're planning something new because their poison plan failed, I'm sure of it!

I sigh and scratch my stomach. I'm _so_ bored. I've been lying here for a long time, but I don't want to leave the safety of my room. Did I forget to tell you I knocked the door? Well, yeah, I did. They would have to bust the door down to get inside, and I doubt any of the kids could do that. The man? Maybe. But not the kids.

I get knocked out of my thoughts when I hear keys jingling. My heart skips a beat and I sit up straight in the bed. Why am I so stupid? Of course they would have keys! Then my heart nearly stops when the door slowly opens. This is it. Whatever they are going to do to me will happen right here, right now.

The first person and the one with the key is a black haired kid with dark eyes. He looks at me and glares. I freeze, not moving a muscle. Was this the kid man told me to look out for?

After him, the rest of the people I saw at the table this morning pile into the room. The last is the gray haired man. Ok, I gotta escape _now._ I turn my head to the window to find it open a little. I resist the urge to hit myself. The window was open all this time?!

But my plan is shattered when someone sees me and stands in front of the window. There goes that plan…

The gray haired man coughs and starts talking. "Hey there Blue, sorry for barging in here like this." Yeah_ right._ "But we didn't get to introduce ourselves this morning and we know you can understand us. Also, if we would have knocked, you would've ignored us. So I let Sasuke here open the door for us!"

I narrow my eyes at him. I don't like this guy's attitude.

Feeling someone glaring at me, I glance over to Sasuke. Our eyes lock, but he doesn't even flinch. Oh he's playing games now? Fine, I'll play. I flatten my ears against my head, bristle my hairs, and glare back. I smirk inwardly when I see everyone, even Sasuke, tense.

"Now now, control your temper…" Whatever the man is trying to do isn't working because I only get madder. Control my temper? I'm allowed to be angry! Still glaring at Sasuke, I narrow my eyes even more and bare my teeth. "Now let's not be rash…" I ignore him and continue to glare. That is until I feel a sharp pain on my temple. I stop snarling, put my hand up to my head, and look at the pen on the bed beside me.

The hell? He threw a _pen _at me?

I glance back over to the man and he smiles. "Now that I have your attention, can we start the introductions?" I stare at him. Is this guy crazy in the head? "I take that as a yes. I'm Kakashi."

Then the dark haired, pale eyed girl next to him stutters. "I-I'm Hinata." She doesn't look evil, but I can't judge a book by its cover.

Next is a guy with dark glasses and a very high collar. "Shino." This guy gets straight to the point. After him is a pink haired girl that looks like Amy if she was human. "I'm Sakura." So, that's the one that can cook. "And the one beside me is Ino-pig."

"It's just Ino, Billboard brow!" Ino hisses back. Gotta stay away from those two if they ever go at it. The guy next to her looks like he is taking himself a nap, but opens one eye and mutters, "Shikamaru."

A boy in _green spandex_ points to himself. "Hi! I'm Lee!" That's the loud voice from before, gotta stay far away from him. A girl with two brown buns speaks up. "I'm Tenten."

Then there is a guy that looks a lot like that Hinata girl. "Neji." Next to him is Sasuke and he doesn't say anything, it isn't like he needs to anyway. Skipping him, a chubby boy snacking on chips speaks. "I'm Choji."

The guy blocking my way to freedom is next in line. He has shaggy brown hair and red triangle markings on his face. He looks a lot like a dog if you ask me. "I'm Kiba and this is my pup Akamaru!" The puppy in question barks on his head. "And you are not leaving here anytime soon!" Outside, I just stare at him, but on the inside, I'm spitting every curse I know at him. Just my luck.

The last boy is the one that was staring at me in the hallway. I'm a little wary around this one. He isn't secretive and just screams unpredictability. "Hey! The names Naruto!" He starts to walk forward and trips on air onto his face. "Oww…" He stands back up with cheeks flushed from embarrassment. "That never happened!"

The room burst into laughter and I almost smile. Almost. I am still in enemy territory after all.

When the laughter dies down, the man, Kakashi, talks again. "Oh, there is another reason we came here. Well, I'm going to tell it to you straight. You're dirty and need to bathe." I look down at my body and flinch. You can barely tell that I'm blue! I'm going to have to sooner or later.

I hesitantly nod and Kakashi turns to the others. "Any volunteers?"

"I'll do it!" Sakura offers. If I had to pick anyone, it would've been her or Hinata, so I'm glad she spoke up. Kakashi nods and Sakura turns to me. "Need help standing up Blue?" I shake my head slowly and slid off the bed. My cast knocks on the wooden floor when I stand up.

"Alrighty then. The rest of us will be in the living room if you want us." Kakashi says leading the others, except Sakura, out of the room. Tch, when would I even want them? I'm only doing this because I don't know where the bathroom is.

"Come on, follow me." Sakura says walking out the door. I obey her and keep close, don't want to lose her in this big house. We past the kitchen and enter the living room where everyone is sitting. "Hey Sasuke." The boy in question looks up, eyebrow raised. "Where are the towels and soap?" Sasuke's eyes travel from Sakura to me, then back to her.

"They are in the closet in the hallway upstairs."

"Thanks! Let's go Blue." I glace around the room the see curious stares before I turn and walk slowly upstairs. "Oh, I forgot!" Sakura says from the top. "Do you need help?" I shake my head again. Mother hen much?

Finally getting to the top of the stairs, I see that Sakura already got the bathroom stuff and a plastic bag for my cast. She hands them to me. "I'm pretty sure you can handling washing yourself, right?" I nod and she starts to head downstairs. "There are two bathrooms, chose one!" With that, she's gone.

I look both ways before going to the bathroom on my left. I walk in, put the towel and soap on the sink, and look at myself in the mirror. I cringe at what I see. I am _covered_ from head to toe with dirt and grime. My gloves and shoes are in the same state I'm in. I take them both off and put them on the floor. I'll wash them later, whenever that is.

I'll get Sakura to do it. I'm kinda comfortable around her. And speaking of pink haired females, I wonder what Amy and the others are doing right now? Most likely freaking out because I'm not there.

Knuckles, Cream, Tails, Rouge, Amy, and Shadow are all sitting in Tails' kitchen eating spaghetti.

"Sonic still hasn't come back yet." Tails wonders out loud, slurping the Italian pasta. The others shrug and Knuckles speaks up.

"Who knows? And don't worry about it, he has done this plenty times before."

"Your right Knuckles." With that, everyone goes back to eating with light conversation.

Yep, going crazy with worry.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sonic: Sniff, my own friends aren't even looking for me?!**

**Sasuke: Well they did say you do this sort of disappearing act all the time.**

**Sonic: That's because I wanted to just have an adventure for a few days, you know?**

**Sasuke: But now it's like a boy who cried wolf situation. When you really need help, they don't even try to look.**

**Sonic: But….but….**

**Sasuke: Don't try too hard.**

**Sonic: Shaddup!**

**Dinnertime**

I turn on the water for the shower and wait a couple seconds for it to warm up. I put the plastic around the cast and secure it so water couldn't get down into it. We don't need for that to happen, do we? I hold my hand to judge the temperature of the water and quickly pull away. That is _way_ too hot!

I turn on the cold a little more and feel the water again. Much better. I grab the soap off the sink and step into the shower. God, it feels so good! I just stand there letting the water rinse off the mud and dirt before scrubbing with the soap.

Washing, I think about my situation.

How do I get out of it!?

I mean, I can't escape and that was really my only option. I guess I can get to know them if, _if_ they are not really bad people. But I doubt it, they kidnapped me for goodness sake!

I step back under the spray of water and sigh. Guess I'm eating dinner with them. They ate together during breakfast, so I think they would eat dinner again together and that is the perfect time to 'get to know them.'

Stepping out the shower, I see an empty clothes bin. I shrug and drop my shoes and gloves into it. Sasuke would get over it. I dry off and then put the towel into the same bin, because it is almost black. It was white when I got it.

I take off the plastic bag and open the door to head out. Standing at the top of the stairs, I smell food, again. Looking at the clock on the wall, it reads seven o'clock. How long was I in there? I guess it is time for dinner…

Moving down slowly down the stairs, I realize that the house is strangely quiet. There is usually some kind of conversation going on. At the bottom, I go to the kitchen to see who is in there cooking. I breathe out a sigh of relief. It's Sakura.

I go over to her to see what she is cooking, and to watch her in case she puts something in there that _isn't _supposed to. I stand beside her and she jumps a little. Heh, got her!

"Oh! Hey there, Blue!" I grin and point to the food. "We are having ramen tonight." Ramen? What the hell is ramen? Seeing the confused look on my face, she stares in disbelief. "You never tasted ramen before" I shake my head negatively. "Well, you're going to try some today! If you're gonna sit with us, you can sit in that chair over there. It's between Lee and Sasuke."

I try but can't put a face with the name Lee, but I know Sasuke all too well. Why did I have to sit by him? Maybe this is a bad idea after all…

Sakura sees my crestfallen face. "I know Sasuke isn't the easiest person to get along with, but give him a chance, ok? I nod, albeit with a little hesitation. "Great! They will be back any time now. They left to get more food and stuff because we realized whatever we had wasn't even gonna last three days. Oh, I have something important to tell you!"

I stop walking to my seat to turn to her, listening carefully. She might say something important.

"We all are going to test you with our abilities! Isn't that going to be fun?" I look at her with wide eyes and feel the blood leave my face. Abilities? What kind because I get the feeling that she's not just talking about speed and power. Also, this makes it ten times harder to even think of a plan to escape!

Seeing my bewildered expression, she goes into further detail. "Oh, so you don't know, huh? Ok, we are not like regular humans."

_You don't say?_

"We are ninja and were trained at the academy to become one, and every family line has different abilities, like Shikamaru can control shadows. So yeah, we are gonna test you to see how strong you are, or if you are some pet. Sasuke's words, not mine." So he thinks I'm a pet, does he? Just wait until they test me or whatever. Right now, I don't even care that I'm in a strange new world.

Revenge tastes sweeter right now.

"Blue?" I am dragged from my macabre thoughts Sakura's voice. "You ok there? You spaced out on me." I nod and continue to my chair. When I sit down, I suddenly feel tired and the headache I had before makes its appearance again. I rub my temples.

"Oh, that might be the medicine Tsunade gave you wearing off. Don't worry, it'll go away soon." Tsunade? I guess she was the doc that took care of me while I was out cold. Taking a deep breath, I put my arms and head on the table. Maybe if I stay like this, it'll go away faster.

For a while, the only noises I hear are the occasional movement of Sakura and the clanging of bowls. That is until I hear the front door swing open.

"We're back Sakura!" Ugh. Naruto's voice isn't helping my cause right now.

"Hey guys! What took so long?" Oh no…not her too. I silently groan into my arms.

"Naruto couldn't decide which kind of ramen he wanted, troublesome…" Answers a tired voice, maybe Shikamaru? I hear footsteps come and stop at the door of the kitchen. I peek out from under my arms to see everyone looking warily at me. I sigh and re-tuck my head. I'll deal with them when the pounding in my head stops.

"So…is Blue eating with us now?" Kiba asks Sakura.

"Yep!" She responds happily.

"S-Sakura, do you t-think this is a g-good i-idea?" Hinata mutters.

"Come on guys! It's not he is going to bite, or something." I chuckle under my breath. She doesn't know that.

"ALRIGHT! I'm so lucky to sit by him!" I wince. Ah _hell_… of course I would get the seat in between the emo and the person with no inside voice whatsoever.

"Calm down Lee!" Ino commands.

"Come on guys, let's sit down." Naruto says, and I still hear the hesitation in his voice.

"If you're not comfortable, Naruto, you can always eat in the living room." Kakashi says, not in a really negative way.

"No, I'm fine."

I then hear them making their way over to the table and sitting down. Beside me, I only hear one person sit in their chair. I have a pretty good idea who isn't at the table yet.

"Is there a problem Sasuke?" Kakashi asks. I knew it. There is a long silence.

"No." Sasuke finally answers and comes to sit down beside me. He makes his chair slide over and I can tell because the sound makes my head pound harder.

"Aww Sasu! I didn't know you liked me this much!" Kakashi taunts and Sasuke scoots the chair back to its original place.

"Better get used to Blue, Uchiha. He's going to be around for a while." How long of a while? I know they are going to test me or whatever, but after that?

Then I hear Sakura place the bowls in front of everyone and when she gets to me, she nudges me a bit. I raise my head, blinking to clear up my vision. She places the bowl in front of me with a spoon and some water. I look up at her and smile as thanks.

I glance back down to my bowl. So this is ramen, huh? It's like spaghetti with pork and without the tomato sauce. I pick up my fork, spin it around in the noodles, and bring it up to my mouth. Before it makes it to my mouth, I notice that everyone is staring at me.

I lower the fork slowly and raise an eyebrow. Is there something on my face?

"You know." Ino starts. "You are kinda cute for something not human." I choke on air. What did she just say? She can't be older than twelve; this is like Amy all over again! I'm _fifteen_ for goodness sake! Can I not attract girls of my age?

"Yeah." I whip my head towards Kiba. "Like in a puppy dog kind of way." I inwardly breathe a sigh of relief. This doesn't need to get any weirder than it already is. I get back to tasting the ramen. I smile a little; this is pretty good.

"Wait, what are you anyway?" Choji asks me. I just shake my head and point to my throat. "Oh right, I forgot about that…" I take another bite of ramen. Well if they have something I can write on, I can use that to answer. Naruto then jumps out of seat with a face splitting grin on his face.

"I have an idea! Sasuke, do you have any paper and ink?" Ok, that's just creepy. The raved haired boy nods and points to the living room.

"Yeah, it's by the TV." He says mid-chew.

"Great!" Naruto runs and skids to a stop right before exiting the kitchen. He turns towards me, "You can write, right?" He walks out the kitchen after I give him a thumbs up.

"YOSH!" I hiss and put my hands over my ears. Great, and my headache was almost gone too… "Blue has so much youthful energy!" He is about to go continue his speech but I give him a glare that very clearly says: _shut the hell up._

All other words die on Lee's lips.

Shikamaru sighs. "Lee, stop being so troublesome." Lee minutely nods and stares at his food, not uttering another word. Now I feel sorta bad, but oh well. He'll get over it. I slowly take my hands all my ears, take a deep breath, and run my hand through my quills. Out of the corner of my eye to Sasuke with an amused smirk on his face. Before I have a chance to wipe it off, Naruto bounds back into the kitchen with the paper and ink.

"Here." I grab the supplies and put it in front of me. "Now answer Choji's question." Uh…what was his question again? Hm, I'm seriously drawing a blank he-oh I know! He wants to know what kind of animal I am, as if it isn't obvious enough already. I hold the brush, write 'hedgehog' on the paper, and hold it up.

Everybody's eyes widen, "Really?" Kiba questions pushing his finished bowl away a bit. "I never would have guessed that."

"Yeah, I have never seen any hedgehogs your size and color before." Tenten agrees.

"Especially one that wears clothes, or did. What happened to your shoes and gloves?" Neji asks. I point upstairs and no one seems to get it except for Sasuke. And he seems a little more than annoyed about it.

"He put them in my clothes bin. Which will stink up the whole bathroom." I narrow my eyes at him. It's better than leaving them down here! I flip over the paper and write some more.

'Anywhere else would have been worse!' I hold the paper up to him and glare. He reads it then scoffs. "One word: outside." Instead of _accidentally_ punching this kid in the face, I sigh and scratch out the words already on there. I use the brush again and this time hold the sigh up to the others to read.

'How do you guys put up with him?' Everyone just shrugs, except Naruto, who laughs.

"Well, it's more that we have to than want to." Sasuke narrows his eyes and scowls at Naruto, who puts his hands up in front of him. "Hey, I'm just kidding! And besides, you have your fan club if we skip out on ya!" Sasuke's face pales, (if that's even possible with his skin so pale already) and I raise an eyebrow. He has a fan club?

Catching my expression, Ino enlightens me. "Yeah, in Konoha, like every girl is after him. They usually come in hordes and it isn't uncommon to see Sasuke running full speed from the rabid pack."

I would absolutely _love_ to see that one day! I silently chuckle and nudge Sasuke with my elbow. He refuses to look at me and glances down at his empty bowl. Heh, someone's embarrassed.

Kakashi clears his throat. "Now, calm down everyone. Since Blue-" Oh yeah, that reminds me. I put my hand up and Kakashi pauses in whatever he is saying. I look down at the paper only to find it with no empty space, so I turn it around again to find some below the word 'hedgehog' written. I write 'Sonic' underneath and raise the paper.

"Sonic?" Shikamaru questions incredulously, "Your name is Sonic?" I nod. "Is it a nickname, because it's a pretty unusual birth name." I confirm that and he asks one last question. "Why that name?" I hesitate on that one. Should I…? Nah, let it be a surprise! So I just shrug in response and Shikamaru sighs, "Guess we'll find out later."

When it seems that the one-sided conversation is over, Kakashi starts again. "Alright. Since Sonic is here, why don't we tell him about what's going to happen in a few days, hmm?"

"Right!" Naruto turns to me. "You will be tested on defense and offense. There is one person you will be actually fighting back, and that's me!" He finishes pointing to himself.

Kiba just shakes his head. "And what about the first part of the test, Naruto?"

Naruto just waves his hand dismissively, "I was getting to that part. Before you fight me you have to do the defensive test. And you better pass because if you don't-"

"Alright Naruto, I'm taking over." Neji butts in and gestures to occupants at the table. "There are levels to this test. Each level is each genin." He sees my confused face and explains. "Genin are beginner ninja, which are all of us, except Kakashi. To pass the test, all you have to do is touch either of our shoulders." That's it? No…that's too easy; there has to be a catch.

"But that's not as easy as it sounds. Every one of them have special 'powers' to put it lightly." Kakashi confirms my suspicions. Nothing is ever what is seems. "Would everyone like to share so Sonic has a chance to at least getting to Naruto?" I huff and cross my arms at that. He's underestimating me!

Eager beaver Lee, finding his voice again, shouts next to me, "I'm a master of taijutsu!" Refraining from punching my _other_ neighbor in the face, I tilt my head because I have never heard that word in my life. "Oh yeah you don't know what that is…it's just hand to hand combat." Oh, alright. Why didn't he just say that?

"I use my bugs to fight." Shino's monotone comes next. Bugs can be annoying sometimes, especially one bee on a detective agency.

"My body can grow." Choji speaks up and why am I not surprised?

"Hinata and I have the same ability. Ours eyes can see 360 degrees and can sense pressure points in the body. We have both decided that I would go against you." Neji leans back in his chair and looks at me uninterestingly. If they do this to all their opponents then one day, it's going to come back and bite them in the butt.

"My buddy Akamaru and I make awesome team attacks!" Kiba's smile turns feral as Akamaru on his head yips. "I can go into people's minds and take control." Ino says, waving her head like it's nothing. I just stare at her. Ok I don't need to get on her bad side, _ever_.

"I can summon up any type of weapon and use them however I please." Tenten taunts and I question how safe I really am in this house. Do I need to sleep with one eye open tonight? Shikamaru yawns, "I use shadows to manipulate people." I chuckle inwardly at that because Shikamaru doesn't even need to move for his power to work. It suits him!

The only person left to tell me is Sasuke, and he doesn't seem so excited to tell me. He turns to Kakashi. "Why do I need to tell him? It's not like I'm going to have to use it on him." I scowl at him. Who does this _kid_ think he is?

"Just in case, Sasuke. You don't know what he's capable of." I grin smugly at that. He just doesn't know how bad I'm going to beat him at his own game.

"Fine." He glances at me. "I use my eyes to read the opponent's moves before they make them, no matter how fast they are." My grin widens and Sasuke raises his eyebrow. I shake my head while laughing hysterically inside. I can bet you his eye can't track the world fastest hedgehog!

After dinner, I help Sasuke put up the dishes because I help others when I can, whether they are jerks or not. Even though he doesn't talk, we work like a well-oiled machine. He washes the dishes while I dry and put away. I notice that he is tenses up whenever we get close. What did I ever do to him? Because he seems like the type to hold grudges. Also, every once in a while he will give me an analyzing glance. I guess he doesn't trust me. I can't blame him, hell, if I just met some random stranger, I would be wary too.

Finishing the last of the plates, I look at him, do a two fingered salute, and walk off towards my room. When Sasuke speaks, it is hardly a whisper. "Thanks." I stop in my tracks and glance backwards, surprised. He is looking at me and, after regaining my composure, I smile then turn around to head back to my room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sasuke: (eyes Sonic) What are you hiding?**

**Sonic: *whistles* Oh it's nothing…**

**Sasuke: Hn. Whatever. It's not like you can get past me anyway. I'm stronger than everyone there, besides Kakashi.**

**Sonic: (smirks) Really? Then why did Kakashi have me go up against Naruto last? Isn't the last level supposed to the hardest, hmm…?**

**Sasuke: …**

**Sonic: Thought so, that means I **_**may or may not**_** beat able to beat you. (grins mischievously)**

**Sasuke: …just tell me, dammit!**

**Sonic: Nope! You're just gonna have to wait!**

**Sasuke: (sighs) I **_**really**_** hate you right now.**

**Friends?**

Sasuke POV

I stir from the hold of sleep. Feeling the light of the sun on my face, I groan and wipe the sleep from my eyes. I sit up and stretch, eyeing the clock. No one should be up yet.

Getting out of bed, I examine my arm. Tsunade healed the cut, but there is still a faint scar along my forearm. "Stupid animal." I mutter walking out the room towards the bathroom. I mean, what can he possibly have on him that does that kind of damage? I barely even moved him!

Sighing, I almost run into the object of my inward rant. Apparently he was walking out the bathroom. What is he doing up so early? As we pass each other, Sonic nods to me, but I ignore him. I said thanks yesterday after we finished the dished because that's what people do; it doesn't mean that I like him anymore than before.

I hear Sonic breathe out behind me and I turn to see him going down the stairs almost normal speed. Not painstakingly slow like the first time he came up here with Sakura. My bet is that he'll have that cast off tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, if that's the case with Sonic's leg, then we are going to start the tests. He doesn't even have a sliver of a chance of passing. I feel kind of bad for him, _just a little_, but that's what he gets for cutting my arm.

I finish the path to the bathroom and I look into the mirror when I walk in. Seeing my spikey, all over the place bed head, I grab the gel and fix it the way I like it. Up in the back and down in the front.

Sonic POV

Laughing soundlessly down the stairs, I'm trying keep myself from doubling over. I ungracefully fall on the couch and turn on the TV. I try to pay attention to the moving pictures, but can't. Wiping tears from my eyes, I can only think about Sasuke's hair. I have seen _no one_ with a worse bed head than him! Looks like a duck got ran over by a car!

Back to Sasuke

Smirking to myself in the mirror, I pick up my toothbrush and brush my teeth. Finishing that, I splash some water on my face. I walk out the bathroom and back into my room. I pull off my sleeping wares, pull out my regular outfit, and put those on.

With that, I leave to go downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, I see Sonic sitting on the small couch in the living room watching TV and chuckling to himself. I glance from him, to the TV, back to him. There is nothing funny on…what is he laughing at?

Having nothing else better to do, I sit on the opposite end of the couch Sonic is on. I look over to him and he is watching me quizzically, almost warily, with no trace of any laughter on his face. I shrug and turn to the TV. In the corner of my eye, I see him make a face and turn towards the TV as well.

We sit there staring at the TV for a while and I, getting tired of the tense silence, speak up.

"So, are you nervous for the tests?" He jumps, guess he didn't expect me to talk, but regains his composure. He then smirks at me and nods.

Didn't see that one coming.

I frown. "You're not scared at all? We are not holding back, you know." He just waves his hand dismissively, smirk still planted on his face. The nerve this guy has! I cross my arms. "Hn. Just don't start crying when you get your butt handed to you."

He glares at me then and I smirk, finally getting the reaction I wanted. "What? Did I offend you? Well that's life. You can't go around dismissing your opponents like that." He raises an eyebrow at me. "Look, we are talking about you he-"

"Oh my _god_!" We both hear Sakura's voice and look towards the stairs. Guess she's still at the top.

I also hear doors shutting and footsteps. "What happened Sakura?" That is Naruto's voice.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Kiba yawns joining the other two.

"There is a giant bug by the stairs!"

Slower footsteps join the party. "Troublesome… just go around it." Apparently no one hears him, but I know why know. As soon as he started to speak, another loud voice chimes in.

"What is so important that you had to wake up the world, Billboard brow?!" Beside me, I see Sonic chuckle.

"There is a bug-"

"OH MY GOD! Look at it, it's so BIG!" Ino shouts, cutting off Sakura. More footsteps come from down the hallway.

"I woke up from my doughnut dream for this?" Choji questions.

"C-c-can't we j-just-"

"Can't we just kill it?" Neji finishes for Hinata.

"We could…" Replies Naruto.

"Don't worry guys." Tenten pipes up. "I got this." Then I hear rapid footsteps running towards the group upstairs.

"WHAT HAPPENED? I HEARD SAKURA SCREAM!" Lee yells.

"There is a big bug on the step." Kiba answers.

"THEN I SHALL KILL IT BEFORE IT ATTACKS SAKURA!" Lee yells, again. I look over to see Sonic laughing harder now, even I have a small smile on my face. I hear softer footsteps and I guess that Lee is trying to creep up on the bug. Another set of footsteps approach.

"If you kill that small beetle, I will strangle all of you." Shino threatens. "Come on little guy, get in my jar." Pause. "There, it isn't a threat anymore."

"Alright…" Sakura agrees hesitantly. "Let's go downstairs for breakfast." As the footsteps travel downstairs, I hear a thump and see Sonic rolling on the floor laughing. My smile becomes a chuckle, then a laugh, and finally I am doubling over from laughter.

I look up to see everyone staring at us shocked. Chuckling, Sonic and I stand up, but Sonic has to lean on me for support. I haven't laughed like this in a while. I point at them.

"So, you all didn't come downstairs because there was a small bug in the way?" I ask gasping for air while Sonic wipes a tear and shakes his head.

"Well, I guess…Sasuke, are you ok?" I look over to Sakura, still smiling.

"Yeah, why?" There is silence except me chuckling and Sonic's raspy giggles. Naruto then runs up and shakes my shoulders.

"Sasuke! You're hysterical!" He glances at grinning Sonic then back at me. "What did Sonic do to you?!" I feel a tap on my side. Looking down, I see Sonic point to Naruto and then use his finger to draw imaginary circles by his head, saying Naruto is crazy. I smirk and mouth. 'I know.'

He smiles and I turn back to Naruto, whose hands are still on my shoulders. I scowl.

"Let me go Dobe." Naruto sighs in relief, lets go, and turns to the others.

"It's ok guys, Sasuke's fine. Sonic here didn't do anything to Sasuke."

I turn to Sonic when his stomach growls, and he grins sheepishly.

"Well someone's hungry." Sakura says, still eyeing me. "Let's go eat breakfast!"

With that everyone goes into the kitchen and sits down at their respectable seats while Sakura cooks pancakes.

"So Sasuke," Naruto says starting conversation. "we saw you and Sonic there getting along well. Are y'all friends now?" Sonic looks at me and I nod.

"Sure. I realize now that I haven't been treating him fairly." I shrug. "It was an accident."

"Wow Sonic! You taught Teme how to be human!" Instead of smiling, Sonic looks between me and Naruto with a confused expression.

"You cut Sasuke's arm." Kakashi butts in. "He was carrying you here when something hidden in your fur cut him." For a moment, Sonic still looks confused. Then he smirks and chuckles; the latter having some voice to it and making Sonic wince. He rubs his throat.

"Oh my gosh!" Ino squeals. "Don't try to make any sounds until you are fully healed!" Sonic grimaces and nods at her words. Sakura, finished with her cooking, puts a plate of pancakes and eggs in front of me. I take a bite and groan in satisfaction. Guess I am hungrier than I thought I was.

"Hey Sonic." The person (does that even work here?) in question looks up, chewing his food. "Are you ready for the tests tomorrow? You know, since it looks like you can walk on that foot pretty easily." Sonic grins and nods. That stupid confidence again, hn. "Good, cuz I don't want you to hold back!" Sonic gives a thumbs up before Sakura speaks. 

"And I'll be there to heal you right up!" She holds up her hands which are covered in green chakra. Sakura smiles when Sonic looks in awe. "It is my talent after all."

"I-I will cheer you on S-Sonic." Says Hinata; her face flushing.

After breakfast, we all go into the living room because there is really nothing else to do at this point. Sonic and I sit on the futon in the same seats before while Naruto sits on the right side of me, after I had to grudgingly scoot over. Everyone else, besides Sakura, Ino, Choji, and Kakashi, plops down on the long sectional to the left of us.

Kakashi leans on the wall while the two best friends and pudgy boy sit on the floor. We all just sit there, even the motor mouths of the group are silent, with the occasional giggle from Kakashi.

"Aw man. There isn't anything to do…" Kiba sighs.

"I agree. Any ideas guys?" Naruto asks and no one moves for a moment. Then Sonic hops up and walks to where the paper and ink are. He pulls them both out and start writing. A couple seconds later, he holds it up.

'Y'all up for going outside?' It says. Sonic looks at me with a raised brow. I shrug.

"Why not? I can always train. Anyone else?" Naruto stands up and stretches.

"It beats just sitting in here! Let's go guys!" I just shake my head as I stand up. He didn't even know if the others even wanted to leave, but judging how they are following him, he guessed correctly. We all walk out but don't really go anywhere. There are plenty of trees around to practice on.

Kakashi finally walks out the house. "Let's just target practice with your kunais." He turns towards Sonic with an eye smile. "Don't need to ruin the surprise, right?" Agreements go around, and the others go pick a nearby tree to puncture. I am about to pick my own when I feel to tug on my sleeve. I turn to look down at Sonic. He points to my roof. I look up there, but see nothing.

"What? There isn't anything up there." He frowns a little. He points to himself then the roof. What is he trying to say…_oh_. He wants to get on the roof. I smirk.

"You want to get on the roof?" He rolls his eyes and nods. "Ok." Before he even knows what's going on, I grab his wrist, pour some chakra into my feet, and jump to my roof. I land on my feet while Sonic gets thrown on his butt. He jerks his hand out of my grasp and glares.

"You wanted to get up here." Sonic just snorts and looks around. His eyes slowly widens. I follow his gaze to see a common sight, at least to me. From this height you can see everyone throwing their weapons or practicing taijutsu some. "Didn't know we could do that, huh?" He glances at me then fixes his expression to a more bored one. I grin. "Can't hide it. Well, I'm about to go so I can destroy a tree too. Don't want to get left out." He shoos me off and I jump down.

(Time skip-about 9 at night. Just some sweaty ass ninjas and a blue hedgehog eating fish for a late dinner. You didn't miss much.)

Mmmm…why is that Sakura's fish is so better than mine? I to cook for myself longer than her has! I guess she had a mom to teach her…and practice with a stove…but that's not the point! I should still-

"That was great Sakura!" I am tossed out my thoughts when Lee, very enthusiastically, I might add, congratulates Sakura on her food. But before she can say thanks, Sonic cringes and glares hard at Lee.

"Lee…thanks, but please shut up before Sonic does something he might regret." She says pointingly at Lee, then shifts her gaze to Sonic, who looks somewhat bashful now. I think her heard the hidden threat in her words. The tension ends when Kakashi clears his throat.

"Be friendly everyone. Besides, soon you will be able to fight it out!" Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We get to see what Sonic's made up tomorrow. "Now, let's just get some sleep." Everyone agrees and we all move to the stairs while Sonic moves off towards his room with a small wave.

Upstairs, I go into the bathroom to use it. Right before I leave, I see Sonic's shoes and gloves in the bin from yesterday. "Ugh!" Now I really get a whiff and decide then and there to give Iruka a little surprise present.

I pick up the bin and like before, struggle to open the door downstairs leading outside. Once out, I travel a ways to Iruka's apartment and ring the doorbell. I think I should stay here to explain why I'm handing over to him these rancid articles of clothing.

The door opens and Iruka looks at me with a surprised expression.

"Sasuke? Back so soon?"

I nod. "Yeah. These are kind of stinking up my whole bathroom and I need these washed."

Iruka glances at the bin. He holds up the shoes. "Whose are these? I haven't seen these kind of shoes before…"

Think fast, think fast!

"They are Naruto's. He found them in the forest and he wants to wear them, but only when they are clean." Iruka seems hesitant.

"But-" I shove the bin in his hands and him back into his room then speed off.

"Thanks!" I call behind me.

Hopefully he doesn't ask any questions.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sonic: I feel sorry for that Iruka guy. Do you always act so pushy?**

**Sasuke: Did you want me to wash them or not? I didn't have to get them cleaned.**

**Sonic: But you didn't do that for me, you did it cuz you couldn't stand the smell.**

**Sasuke: What's the difference?**

**Sonic: What's the di…Sasuke, do you take any medication?**

**Sasuke: No.**

**Sonic: Well you need to start, because geez man!**

**Testing (1/2)**

Sonic's POV

After being woken up from my dreamless sleep by the sun again, I yawn. I rub my eyes and crack them open. Only to be closed again because I really don't feel like getting up right now. I curl up, as much as I can get anyway with this cast on my leg, and start to drift off to sleep again.

**Knock knock**

My tired eyes shoot back open and look over at the door.

Are you kidding me? It can't be any later than eight in the morning! We _never_ ate breakfast this early!

Grumbling, I tear myself away from the comfort of my bed and make my way to the door. Pulling it open, I see Sasuke with his fist raised to knock again.

"They want you to get ready so we can eat breakfast, and Tsunade's here."

I tilt my head. Who in the hell is Tsunade?

"Oh. You wouldn't know her. She's the one who took care of you when you first came here. She is going to eat breakfast with us then look at your ankle to see if it's healed." Yes! If she says my leg is ok, I get to run again! Wait, but I can only go so fast without my shoes. Don't want my soles to burn off, do we?

Sasuke looks my over and sighs. He gestures behind me. "Guess you didn't see your stuff, huh?"

My stuff? I whirl around to spot my gloves and shoes on the floor by the wall, squeaky clean. Smiling, I go over to slip on the gloves and pick up the shoes. Can't really put them on right now, but hopefully soon.

I walk back up to Sasuke with a smile. He shrugs. "It's no big deal. Gets the smell out my bathroom…" He mutters the last part and I roll my eyes at him. He can't just be nice, can he?

I follow Sasuke to the kitchen with a pep in my step. My foot doesn't hurt at all now, so there is _absolutely_ no reason for this unwieldy cast to stay on my leg any longer. However, I'm going to have to wait to show off until later on. I want to see the looks on their faces!

When we enter the kitchen, all of the others are at the table and the scent French toast smacks me right in the face. Trying to keep myself from drooling, I go to my seat and drop my shoes by the chair. I hop up when Sasuke sits down beside me.

"You look happy today Sonic. Is your ankle better?" Shikamaru asks and I give him a thumbs up. He nods and puts his head on the table. He's the laziest guy I have ever met. Even beating me when Eggman isn't trying for world domination or some crazy idea like that.

Looking over to where Sakura is cooking to see another woman helping her. She has blonde hair and a purple gem on her forehead. Sensing my stare, she pauses in what she's doing to look over to me. She eyes me for a while, then smirks.

"Well, aren't you cute." I frown, while Naruto scoffs.

"Of course you would think that…"

Tsunade glares at Naruto. "Be quiet, brat!" Whoa! Bipolar alert!

"Make me, old hag!" Meh, I expected that from him. Choji leans across the table.

"They are always like this, so get used to it when she's around." I nod and smirk at the two having a shouting contest. I'm just happy they moved away from the table. My ears will survive to see another day.

"IT'S JUST A SHOW OF YOUTHFULNESS!"

Or maybe not.

That was the last straw. This guy needs to seriously learn how to use his _inside voice_! With a blank expression, I just face Lee. He sheepishly smiles. Everyone has gone silent, even the doctor and Naruto. "Sorry…" Oh no. That isn't going to cut it. I continue to stare and I see sweat form on Lee's forehead. Lee starts to squirm under my gaze. He hops out of his chair only to hide behind it.

"Ok, no more yelling. Got it." I smile at him. Those are the words I want to here! After seeing I'm a threat anymore, Lee hesitantly and slowly sits back into his seat. Tsunade, forgetting about her match with Naruto, speaks up.

"Well, I see that he has easily made friends here." She says somewhat sarcastically. "Everyone, just don't be too loud and we'll be fine." We laugh at that, besides Lee, who nervously chuckles. "Now I'm going to look at your ankle…it's Sonic, right?" I nod. "That way we can make sure it strong enough for a little action on the field."

I stick my foot out when she comes over. She takes the cast off and rotates the ankle in all ways it can naturally. She also occasionally glances up at me I guess to gauge my reactions to the touches. Standing up, she gives me a genuine smile.

"Your ankle has healed perfectly. You're ready!"

"And so is breakfast!" Sakura says as she passes out the French toast. Tsunade goes back over to her seat and sits down. As soon as I get my plate, I dig in. She is the best cook! When's the last time I ate great food like this?

"S-so Sonic, are you ready for t-the tests today?" I look up at Hinata and nod enthusiastically. I've been itching for some action around here! She smiles at me before continuing to eat her food.

"Hey, does your voice work yet?" Good question. I haven't tried it out in a while. I try to speak, only for nothing but wind to come out. At least it doesn't hurt anymore. Sasuke shrugs.

"It's not like it's going to change the outcome of the tests." He finishes and smirks at me. I get what's being applied here. I cross my arms and glare at him. Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Sasuke!

After we all finish breakfast, Kakashi claps his hands together. "Ok! Now that we all are done, we will be going to the Uchiha secret training spot. Take the lead Sasuke."

"But you know where it is too…" The said Uchiha mutters under his breath as he stands up. I snicker when we all get up to follow and smile when I can walk without constantly stumbling over that cast over and over again.

We go outside and immediately feel the warm morning sun on my face. This is why I love being outside. The sun, the wind, and the smell of fresh air.

"You really like being outside, don't you, Sonic?" Ino, who walks up beside me, asks. I smile and nod at her. "I don't mind it either, unless it's raining, too cold, too hot, at night, or humid." I sweat drop. So…she _doesn't_ like being outside.

She runs up to catch up to Sakura and Hinata to talk about lord knows what. Having time to myself for a bit, I look at the surroundings. I didn't notice it before, but the trees look different from the one's back home. They seem, muted somehow. Like how Tail turns down the brightness on his computer. Matter of fact, the whole place looks like that. I just shrug it off, it's really not important, just different.

Ten minutes later we reach the training spot and..._wow_, it's huge! Like two football fields huge! I might be exaggerating a bit but seriously, how has this been kept a secret from everyone else?

Tsunade, who gets in front of Sasuke, looks to her side at Kakashi. "Alright, we're here Kakashi. Do your stuff." He puts his book away and clears his throat.

"Ok. Sonic, like we have said before, you will be going up against the nine ninja for the defense test first. It can be in any order, but Sasuke will be last because his sharingan is great last level material!" He eye smiles while everyone else just sighs, except Neji, who is glaring. "No direct attacking this round. All you have to do is to tap the person's shoulder to pass. Then the next person is up. I'm done explaining, so…who wants to go first?"

Crickets.

"Come on guys, this is supposed to be fun! I'll go first." Choji volunteers.

"Great!" Tsunade comments. "Now everyone else, get their butts to the side lines."

The others go where they are told while Choji and I go to the opposite sides of the clearing.

"Ready Choji?" Kakashi shouts.

"Yeah!"

"Sonic?" I look over to him and nod. Sasuke and the others have a semi-worried look on their faces.

"Remember Choji," Sakura yells. "Only use your bloodline limit! Nothing else! I don't want this to end early because you knocked him out!" I inwardly scoff, the nerve of that girl…Choji rolls his eyes and waves her off.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Alright," Tsunade calls. "Begin!"

Choji takes his fighting stance and I take mine, eyeing him to see what he is capable of. Choji looks a little surprised when I took my stance, I guess he didn't expect me to have one, heh!

We stand there for I swear more than five minutes before he makes a move. He steps forward and puts his hands together.

"Multi-size jutsu!"

I blink and see Choji, but he is shaped like a ball. And did I mention, he is _huge_! But that's beside the point. What is that blue stuff coming out of him? Sasuke, seeing my confused face, calls out.

"That blue stuff is chakra! Idiot…" I turn to him and glare. It's not my fault I'm new to this kind of stuff! "It's the energy we use to do things like that." Oh…I turn back to Choji. It's like chaos energy back home.

Choji yells again and start to spin in place, fast. Ok. It's about time for a plan! Looking around, I spot a sturdy tree a couple yards behind me. That'll work! That is, if he does what I think he is about to do. I back up a ways only to have Choji start to barrel towards me.

Wait for it…_now_!

I jump out the way at the last second. It is so close that I feel the wind Choji generated blow across my face. He crashes into the tree and debris flies everywhere. When it settles down, I walk up to the Choji on the ground next to the tree, grin, and tap his shoulder. He looks up with unfocused eyes and I hold out my hand. I help him up after he takes it.

After dusting himself off, we make our way to where the others are. Some are amused but most are unimpressed.

"All you did was dodge! That isn't anything spectacular." Kiba says, crossing his arms. I shrug and just smile. He's right. What I did out there was nothing.

"Don't be so mean Kiba!" Naruto chastises lightly. "Don't you want to go against him? You can't if he losses."

Kiba uncrosses his arms and grins. "Your right. I want to show Sonic what I got!" I shake my head. Kiba is _exactly_ like Knuckles. Then Sasuke walks up to me.

"Hn. Lucky dodge, if you keep that up, you might make it to me." He mocks and I roll my eyes. I glance over to Choji to see Sakura healing his bruises.

"Who's next?" Tsunade questions. Apparently Choji got rid of everyone's cold feet because Ino volunteers as tribute.

"I'll go!" She says skipping to her place. I jog to mine thinking about her bloodline…thingy. She can control someone's body by intruding into that person's mind. Guess I'm just gonna have to avoid that at all costs. "You are not going to get farther than me, Sonic!" I put my hand on my hip with a raised eyebrow. Before Ino says anything else, Kakashi cuts her off.

"Ready?"

I nod and Ino answers. "When am I not?" I snort.

"Then begin!"

She takes a few steps forward and gets into this funny looking stance. However, I watch every move she makes. "Get ready Sonic! Mind transfer jutsu!" She makes a triangle with her fingers that are trained on me. Nothing happens.

Um…ok?

Since she isn't doing anything, I walk to the side a bit and when I see that she doesn't follow me with her hands, I get closer to her. Beside her, I wave my hand in front of her face. Getting no reaction, I tap my finger on her shoulder. That was kinda anti-climactic, but hey, I passed.

Ino finally opens her eyes and she pouts. "I missed!" Yeah, what was she even doing? But no need to question it, it's over now. We both make it over to the others and Sakura fills me in when Ino doesn't.

"You see, the jutsu only works when the opponent is still enough for the transfer to even happen. Because you moved out of the line of fire, it didn't work." I nod in understanding. I just dodged a huge bullet!

Sasuke just grins. "See? Another lucky dodge. Maybe luck is all you have." It doesn't take a genius to tell that he is making fun of me, again. All I need is someone who is an actual _threat!_

"I will go next." Says a soft low voice besides Sasuke.

"Shino?" Tsunade questions and the bug user nods. "Alright then!"

It is silent as we both walk to our spots. This is the guy who works with bugs. I rub my chin I thought. What can I use against this guy? Eh, I'll just wing it.

"Begin!"

The reaction is immediate. I see hundreds of bugs start to swarm around Shino. Dammit...guess I got my wish. Shino is just standing still with the bugs buzzing all around him. Then, out of nowhere, the swarm flies full speed straight at me. Oooo! Guess who just got an idea!

I position myself and wait for the swarm.

"Sonic! Move! You'll get seriously hurt if you don't!" I ignore Kiba's frantic shouting and focus. Others start to shout also, but I don't want to ruin my plan by looking over there. The swarm comes ever closer. When it is about a yard away, I jump into the black cloud and perform a spin dash. My sharp quills slash all the bugs and I land kneeling on the ground. I stand up and brush the left over bug juice from my body.

I hear footsteps. Turning a little, I see Shino kneeling on the ground where some bugs are still alive, but not threating. He seems preoccupied, so I go over and tap his shoulder. He stands up, nods to me, and walks back to the shocked crowd of people on the sidelines. I smirk and follow him.

"That was awesome!" Naruto yells first. "How…what…I didn't even know you could do that!" I chuckle silently. That was the point!

"Who knew you can actually put up a fight?" Neji comments. "And now we know what cut Uchiha."

"We do?" Sakura asks.

"Yeah." Sasuke scowls when I look at him smugly. "Apparently, his quills are very sharp. So when I repositioned him, one of them slashed my arm."

Shikamaru walks up to me and gently touches my quills with his finger. It starts to bleed. "Hm. Now I'm really interesting at what you can do. It's my turn next." Huh, I would've bet that someone would have had to pay Shikamaru to use any type of energy. But hey, surprises make life fun.

We make our way over to our spots and Shikamaru just stands with his hands in his pockets at his spot, looking at the clouds. Well, I thought he was into this…

"Begin!" Kakashi shouts.

Shikamaru backs up a little into the shadows of the trees, makes sense, and positions himself. Then he starts making these weird signs with his hands. When he finishes, a dark shadow shoots out and makes its way towards me. I backpedal quickly, but not my top speed, saving that for later, and get out of the shadow's range. It retracts back to Shikamaru, still hidden in the shadows of the tree line.

The only plan I can think of is to just outrun the jutsu. I can't do anything to counter it and I _really_ don't want to touch it. Ok, all I have to do is to get Shikamaru to use it again so I can loop around somehow to get to him. Alright, let's do this.

I run regularly to get closer to Shikamaru and like I planned, he shoots out his shadow again. I pick up speed and instead of running straight for Shikamaru, ultimately towards the incoming shadow, I run at an arc. Then I eventually run out of the clearing and into the trees. I look backwards to see the shadow traveling faster. Duh! The trees provide more shadows than the open field! I need to end this.

Grunting, I rapidly increase my speed and arc around again to head in Shikamaru's direction. Looking back, I see that I'm losing the shadow. I do a little dance in my head and keep running towards the shadow wielder.

I catch sight of him. He is still in the same place he has been in the whole time. I grin and silently run up behind him. I grin to myself before touching his shoulder. If I could, I would have busted out laughing when he jumps and looks at me with wide eyes.

"What? How…?" That's right. He didn't actually _see_ me running. How unfortunate, that means the others didn't see either. So all they saw was me running out the clearing. Perfect! I secret is still safe, until I need to use it.

"How did you get behind me? I thought my shadow…" He trails off and looks expectantly at me. I just shrug and start to walk back to the others.

"Shikamaru!" Ino squeals. "What happened? We couldn't see much from over here!"

"Yeah!" Agrees Choji. "I saw Sonic run into the trees, then nothing else!"

"I didn't really see it all either…" Shikamaru mumbles.

"What?" Tenten asks incredulously. "Weren't trailing him with your shadow?"

"I thought I was. That was until he just suddenly came up behind me out of nowhere." I glances at me. I put my hands behind my back and start to whistle.

"Looks like he has more tricks up his sleeves that I first thought." Tsunade comments.

"I agree with you. Sonic, any more surprises you have in store for our students?" I just shrug. I glance over to Sasuke to see him fuming. I bounce over to him and nudge him with my elbow. He looks at me and crosses his arms.

"Whatever you did back there isn't going to work on me." HO HO HO HO! I laugh in my head, mimicking the evil doctor. We will see about that, won't we?

"Anyone wants to go next?" Kakashi asks. Neji steps up.

"I will go against him. Just so you know Sonic, you have no chance of winning."

Naruto sighs. "I thought you were over the whole 'fate' thing…"

"I am. What I said is a fact. It has nothing to do with fate."

Naruto scratches his head. "But, isn't it…" He drops his arm. "Just never mind."


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter is longer because I really wanted to end the tests this chapter**

**Sonic: Aww! What's wrong Sasu? I bet you thought I couldn't fight.**

**Sasuke: (scowls) Wait, back up. Sasu, really?**

**Sonic: (shrugs) I nickname a lot of my friends. **

**Sasuke: (crosses arms and looks away) You are not my friend. What I said before was just in the spur of the moment. Hn. You are barely a worthy opponent.**

**Sonic: (grins) Bro, you mad, or nah?**

**Sasuke: I'm not mad! I'm just…**

**Sonic: (leans closer) Juuuusssssssstt?**

**Sasuke: Just surprised that you can do what you did earlier! There, are you happy now?**

**Sonic: (smugly grins) Very.**

**Tests (2/2)**

"Just give up, hedgehog. You will not win this fight" Neji boasts as he walks to his side of the field. So, Neji is a physical attacker…he hits the person's pressure points. I have to watch out for that. "You won't stand a chance since you will not be able to move in three minutes." I just shake my head.

"Ready?" We both nod at Kakashi. "Begin!"

"Byakugan!" Neji shouts immediately and his eyes strain. I cringe when I see all the veins around and in his eye. Ouch. He starts to circle around me and I don't move. A little nervous of what's to come. He does this for a minute, then smirks. "I suggest you quit now, so you won't embarrass yourself out here." I stand my ground. Sonic the hedgehog is _not_ a quitter!

"Fine." He remarks before leaping at me, palms forward. I try to dodge to my left, but he catches my left shoulder. I gasp and clutch said shoulder. I can't feel or move my arm! Dammit, this is bad! I back up some and look at Neji. He has a smug look on his face that lasts a moment before turning into an expression of intense focus.

He runs towards me again with impressive speed and reels back his palm, covered with chakra. Before I even _think_ of moving, Neji hits me square in the chest. I double over in pain, the breath knocked right out of me. I hear Neji chuckle. "Just one more hit, and you'll be out like a light."

I straighten back up, wincing in the process. I have to think of something, fast! I won't to be able to dodge this time; I know that for sure. He has to touch me to do damage, but what if…? I got it!

"You just won't give up, will you?" I shake my head and glare. He shrugs only to come at me, hopefully, for the last time. When he gets close enough, I turn around, back facing Neji, and stiffen my quills a little. I feel two hard hits before a very high pitched scream rings in my ears.

I turn around to a pitiful sight. Neji in on the ground staring at his hands slightly shaking. I sorta feel bad for him, but this is what Sakura is for, right? I walk up to him and try to touch his shoulder with my right hand, but it didn't even twitch. Mentally face palming, I touch him with my left hand. He wakes up from his reverie and glares at me. He then gets up silently to walk over to the others.

Geez…what a sore loser. As soon as I get back to the sideline, Sasuke walks up to me with a worried glint in his eyes. What? Sasuke worried. Nah, I must be imagining things.

"Can you move your arm at all?" I shake my head then Naruto comes over.

"Neji's hands are mangled!" Not really. Just a few nasty paper cuts. "Man, your quills are nothing to play with!"

"Yeah!" Lee agrees, not in an obnoxiously loud voice this time. "I want to be next to test your youthful spirit!"

"Heh, your gonna have to wait Lee. I want to go next and ladies first!" Tenten cuts in.

Lee deflates. "I guess you can go…"

"W-wait!" We all look at Hinata. She starts to push her fingers together. "S-shouldn't Sonic get his arm f-fixed first?" I forgot about that! And she does have a point…

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Neji's hands needed healing too ya know!" Sakura says making her way over to me. She crouches down and starts to work on my shoulder. The effects are immediate. I have feeling in it again! Sakura steps back. "Now rotate your shoulder." I did so and she smiles. "It healed perfectly!"

Tenten clasps her hands together. "Now that's done. Let's get this show on the road!" I smile at her. She reminds me of Rouge, well, a less gem obsessed Rouge.

We reach our spots. "Begin!" Yells Kakashi.

Tenten just stands over there and looks me over, like Choji earlier. I stare back. She said she could summon weapons to use. How is she going to use that here? A flash of white knocks me out of my focus. I look up to see dark clouds overhead; it's going to rain soon, and I can totally use that to my advantage.

"Alright! Are you ready for this Sonic?" I watch her cautiously as she does those weird hand sighs again. "Don't worry! I won't hurt you, badly." She finishes the signs and shouts, "Twin rising dragons!"

She jumps high into the air with two scrolls whirling around her. Then there is a poof and now at least fifty sharp metal weapons are floating suspended in the air, all pointed at me. I step back in half fear, half awe. She wasn't playing when she said she could summon them at will!

She laughs. "Don't get scared now!" With a flick of her wrist, she sends the barrage of metals charging towards me. Ok! It time for some quick stepping here. I have to do it perfectly if I don't want to be turned into a hedge-kebob.

I start weaving my way through the weapons. I duck and dodge quickly for a few more seconds before they stop coming. Panting, I look at Tenten how has returned to the ground. Her eyes are comically wide. "How in the heck did you dodge all those!?" I just grin. She scowls. "No! I'm not done with you yet!"

She runs forward carrying a sword that I didn't know she even had. Then…she trips on one of her scattered weapons on the ground.

Talk about ironic.

She falls head forward, eating dirt, and trying not to laugh my tail off, I walk over to touch her shoulder. She groans as she spits dirt out of her mouth. I grab her hand and help her up. "Thanks." I give her a smile and we walk to the others. Before anyone says anything, thunder roars and it starts to rain.

"Aww..my hair!" Ino whines and Tenten scoffs.

"Calm down. It's just water." Ino crosses her arms and pouts. I chuckle. I don't really mind it. Kiba then comes over and pokes me in my nose.

"I think we all have come to a conclusion here: you, my friend, are a little speed devil." I push his finger away and grin at him. They got most of it, but they don't know just how _fast _I can go. "But that doesn't change anything. You still aren't going to get past me!"

"Hey…!"

"You'll get your turn Lee! Just hold your horses." I just sigh and, looking over, see Sasuke staring at me. His eyes are mostly unreadable, but I see the curiosity buried underneath those black pools. I raise an eyebrow and he looks away with a grunt.

"So Kakashi sensei," Naruto turns to the ninja in question. "Are we gonna continue in the rain?" The jonin thinks for a second, then glances at Tsunade.

"It's fine with me if it is with you, Tsunade."

"The rain makes this more interesting." She replies with a grin.

"So troublesome…"

"My food's gonna get soggy!"

"Suck it up." Sasuke glares at Shikamaru and Choji; they both shut up.

"Can we start now?" Kiba half whines.

"Yeah." Answers Kakashi.

"Woo!" Kiba runs to his spot while a jog to mine. This guy's energy is contagious!

"Ready?" I can barely hear Kakashi over the pouring rain and pounding thunder. In fact, I can hardly see Kiba at the other end of the field! "Begin!"

I squint to see Kiba give himself and Akamaru some kind of pill. My eyes widen when I see Akamaru change from white to red and when Kiba's appearance becomes feral.

"Let's go Akamaru! This will be a piece of cake!" The pup barks in agreement beside him. How are they so confident in themselves? Didn't they see what happened to the six before them?

Kiba gets on all fours and starts to growl. Then Akamaru beside him turns into Kiba himself! Man, what else can they do?

"Fang over fang!" Kiba yells and the duo starts to turn around rapidly, forming two identical mini cyclones. Plan, plan! I need a plan here! Frantically looking around, I spot the same tree I knocked out Choji with. This should be easier because it's raining and traction on the ground isn't going to help the duo's case at all. I start to back up closer to the tree slowly and hope neither of the two can sniff out my plan yet.

They obviously didn't because they charge me a ridiculously fast speed, not matching mine of course. I wait for a split second longer because there are two of them, and I don't want one the turn at the last second. They are literally a foot away when I jump up and let them both slam into the tree underneath.

Again, there is debris everywhere, but the rain quickly clears it out. I land in front of them and turn back to see Kiba with swirls in his eyes. Akamaru has his head stuck in the tree, trying but failing to pull free. I grin and pull the puppy free. He shakes and licks my hand. I go and squat in front of Kiba. Snapping my fingers in his face, he come to.

"Oh my head…" He grumbles as he stands up. Rubbing his head, he looks at me. "Maybe I underestimated you…" I raise an eyebrow. Ya think?

When he starts to walk, he stumbles a bit. Getting up next to him, I take his arm and toss it over my shoulders so he can have some support. He looks thankfully at me and we make it to the others, Kiba almost pulling a Tenten twice.

Sakura takes Kiba off my hands and Lee bounces up to me. "Yosh! It is finally my time to shine!" Ok, two things: 1. Why are there stars in his eyes? 2. What in the hell does 'yosh' mean?

Lee bounds over to his side of the clearing and before I could, Sasuke walks over to me. He is looking over at Lee. "Looks like you really have some kind of talent." He turns towards me with a smirk. "Just don't get too cocky out there. I do want to go against you, after all." Same for you too, bud. I leave for my spot with a two fingered salute.

When I get to my spot, Lee, who had been jogging in place, stops and makes his way towards me. He holds out a dripping hand. "Let's have a good fight!" I grin and shake his hand. He runs back to his spot as thunder roars overhead. I turn my head towards the crying sky, feel the water run down my body, and take a deep breath. Now let's focus on Lee, the real physical attacker.

Because I can't directly attack him, I am going to have to block and dodge until I get an opening.

"Are you ready?" Kakashi shouts and we both nod. "Begin!"

After a moment of silence, Lee speeds over to me with surprising traction on the wet ground. I have great traction also because my custom shoes are made for any terrain, but Lee doesn't seem to lose his balance once. That could be a problem.

Next thing I know, Lee is right in front of me, sending a punch straight for my face. I just as quickly block it and immediately feel pain in my arm. Dammit, this guy can hit _hard_! I'm pretty are that spot is gonna bruise.

Lee then follows through with a kick to my abdomen. I stop that leg cold by grabbing onto it. Then Lee uses that to twist and use his other leg to kick me in my side. It would have hit if I hadn't let go and backed up quickly.

"You even might be faster than me!" Lee gushes. _Might_? He will change that observation real soon.

He rushes again and soon it becomes a collection of Lee punching and kicking while I try to block every single one of them. One of us eventually has to give, and it ain't going to be me! I think blocking another kick by Lee. He then backs off and I sigh in relief, at least I get a little breather. I put my hands on my knees and pant.

I glance up at Lee to see him with his eyes closed.

"You are in for it now, Sonic!" I glance over to Neji with my brow raised, but he just smirks at me, saying no more. What is he talking about? I turn back to Lee. He's just- my brain stops functioning for a moment.

I see Lee, but he is surrounded by a bunch of that blue chakra stuff. I flinch when he finally opens his eyes and stares at me. He then couches down only to disappear from sight. Standing back up, I search around everywhere for him. The rain isn't helping much. Where in the hell did he go? He was just here!

All of a sudden, there is a sharp pain in my stomach, and I propel into the air. I look down at the ground just in time to see Lee disappear again. Sensing someone nearby, I see Lee flying in the air behind me in the corner of my eye. I gasp. How…?

Lee's shouting snaps me out of my stupor. "Shadow of the dancing leaf!" Lee tilts my body so it would by belly up, then he is using momentum to turn around. Ok, if I don't act _right now_, I'm pretty sure I will be part of the ground if Lee kicks me downwards as hard as I think he will. When his leg is right above my stomach, I grab his foot, twist him so he is under me, and let go. I inwardly chuckle. His face is priceless!

I land on the ground safely after Lee falls to the ground. He lies on the ground, I guess still in shock, a few yards away from me. I walk up to him, kneel down, and touch his shoulder. Lee snaps his gaze onto me and sighs. After I help him up, he wipes the mud from his face.

"How did you do that?" He asks as we make our way back to the others. "No one has evaded my jutsu before! Not even Sasuke over there!"

Sasuke scoffs. "I still say it just caught me off guard…"

"Well Sasuke, looks like it's your turn to take on little blue here." Sakura comments looking over Lee.

"Yeah, it is." He looks at me. "And this is the farthest you will go." Finishing with a smirk, he walks to his spot, hands in his pockets.

"Good luck Sonic!" Ino cheers me on.

"Don't lose to Teme! You still have to fight me, remember?" Naruto taunts and I grin at him. I didn't forget.

I jog to my side and realize that the storm has let up and that you can now see specks of blue in the gray sky. I glance towards Sasuke to see him staring at me blankly. It's a little unnerving, but I know it's just to psych me out. I just put my hand on my hip. He has the eye thing that tracks the opponent's movements…well he just met someone that won't work on!

"Ready?" Sasuke grunts while I nod. "Begin!" Heh, this is about to be over real quick!

"Sharingan!" Sasuke shouts and then his eyes turn red with three dots. I almost want to take a step back, but I steal myself and stand still. He takes a couple steps towards me, trying to look intimidating. It isn't working because I grin and walk forwards. Sasuke seems confused by my confidence, but he put up a guarded stance anyway.

I stop about two yards away from him and wave. He puts up an eyebrow and my grin widens. Then, faster than the human eye can even catch, I run in circles around Sasuke. Now, if he can't see me with those special eyes, he should see multiple copies of me in the form of afterimages.

When Sasuke starts looking around in confusion, I know my theory is correct. Score! I chuckle silently when he tries to punch one the fakes, only to have his fist phase through. He's eyes widen and he tries to focus, but he doesn't get anywhere. He kicks another one to get the same effect.

Thinking he has had enough torture for right now, I stop behind him and tap his shoulder. He spins around to look at me with wide eyes. He hesitantly pokes my and realizing he is actually touching me, pulls away.

"How…how did you fool my Sharingan?" Sasuke asks incredulously. I just grin at him. No one is perfect, even I have my flaws. I do a 'come on' with my hand and start to walk away. Not hearing footsteps behind me, I turn to see Sasuke still staring at me. Sighing, I go back to him and flick his forehead. He slowly blinks and raises his hand to where I touched him, but doesn't move otherwise. Did my little stunt surprise him this much?

Shaking my head, I grab his wrist and pull him to the others, who aren't faring much better. We make it and Sasuke sounds like a broken record.

"but I didn't…didn't see your chakra…didn't…"

Naruto is the first to regain brain function out of the whole group, including Kakashi and Tsunade.

"How did you make multiple shadow clones without making any chakra? And a better question: how did you learn how to?" Shadow clone? I'm pretty sure it wasn't a shadow, or a clone either… so I just shrug, not really able to explain myself.

"It is interesting how you did it without chakra…" Neji thinks out loud.

"Yeah! I didn't sense that he used any either!" Kiba agrees, then shrugs. "Well, I guess it doesn't really matter." Kiba hits Naruto on his back. "It's your turn now Naruto!"

Naruto grins smugly at me. "Sure is, and this time it's a real fight! Get ready Sonic, you're gonna get creamed!" I roll my eyes. It should be the other way around.

Sasuke, finally returning from whatever world he was in, speaks up. "Don't get too cocky Dobe. If Sonic surprises us like he did back there, you might be in trouble."

"You've seen me fight Teme! I'm so good, I might as well be better than you!"

Sasuke scoffs. "As if." Before anyone else can say anything else, Kakashi cuts in.

"Congrats for making it this far Sonic. We all have learned some…surprising things about you." I grin at that. "Now is the offense portion of the test. You now will be going against Naruto."

"That's right!" Naruto boasts. "OW!"

"Shut up and let him finish, you baka!" Sakura yells after she punched him in the head.

"Right…" Kakashi continues. "The rule will change. In order to win, one has to pin the other down. Oh, and try not to break any bones out here. If you do, it'll be longer before we get back to the house because bones need longer time to heal." He eye smiles. "Nobody got time for that, understood?" I nod again, itching to start. Naruto must be thinking the same thing.

"Ok, ok Kakashi sensei! Can we start now?"

"Yep! Now get ready!" Naruto runs over to his spot and I walk over to mine. However I hear Tsunade's faint voice.

"He's interesting, isn't he?"

"Hmm…" Kakashi hums in agreement. That means I'm special around here. Hopefully that doesn't get me in any trouble…

I get to my spot and take a deep breath. I get to punch and kick this time, my specialty!

"Go for the gold, Sonic!" Sakura cheers me on and Naruto pouts.

"Hey!"

She chuckles, "You too Naruto!"

He turns from Sakura to me. "Ready to lose, Sonic? Why am I even asking?" He chuckles and I smirk at him. That attitude will bring him down alone.

Kakashi calls out. "Ready Naruto?"

"I was born ready!" I hear I muffled 'Dobe' in the background and snicker inwardly.

"Sonic?" I give him a thumbs up.

"Begin!"

Wasting no time, Naruto calls out, "Multi-shadow clone jutsu!" About fifty Narutos appear on the field, impressive, but it isn't enough. "Surround him!" The real Naruto orders. The clones then stand in a circle around me. The real one joins as well. "What are you going to do now against my fifty clones?"

I can do a lot, Naruto, a lot.

First I gotta get rid of all the clones. I grin at Naruto and then run quick enough around the circle to create a strong wind that knocks all of them back a good distance. They all poof out of existence when they hit the ground, except Naruto, who unfortunately lands and slides for a bit on his right arm. The rocks on the ground cutting it and drawing blood.

Naruto stands up and touches his arm. He winces then brings his hand up to his face, seeing the blood. Naruto snaps his eyes towards me and I grin, crossing my arms. "So, you were holding back all this time, huh? Well you got your speed, but I outclass you in power, believe it!"

Fat chance of that, even though I'm not the strongest, that title belongs to Knuckles, I'm not a soft hitter. With a battle cry, Naruto charges at me, fist raised. When he gets close enough, I quickly sidestep to the left. I turn to see Naruto try to keep his balance from missing me. He is so losing this. He turn towards me again.

"How? You were just right there!" He shouts pointing to the spot I was in seconds before. I just shrug. He huffs and charges again. This time, I move to the rights when he is about to hit me. "I'm gonna have to try something different." I hear Naruto growl to himself. Whatever he does isn't gonna work, can't he see that?

Naruto does some hand signs and then looks at me, seeming to be waiting for something. I blink and he does his war cry again. Again, I step to the left when he gets close enough, and when I do, I get a face full of fist. My head gets forced to the right to see a Naruto, the one coming at me, disappear. It was a clone! Naruto was waiting for me to blink so he could switch! _That sneaky bastard._

Now I taste the blood in my mouth. Ok, it's time to get serious. I turn my head back to look at Naruto, who has a mocking grin on his face.

"See? I told you-" He is silenced by a hard kick to his jaw following a swift punch to stomach. He flies back and slides a couple feet. Powerful kicks made from years of running.

He groans as he gets up. He is covered in the mud from the storm earlier; he has a couple scrapes from the ground and a pretty bruise on his left cheek, thanks to my right foot.

Naruto rubs his bleeding lip and winces when he brushes over his bruise. Growling, he comes at me again, but this time I am not going to dodge. I am gonna take this head on.

The result of that is something like what Lee and I did. The difference is that Naruto is getting hits on me and I am on him at the same time. This goes on for about ten minutes. Just us punching, kicking, and blocking. It's starting to get tiring, so I decide to put a stop to it. I bring up my foot to Naruto's stomach and push hard. He stumbles back a ways.

We are both panting with hands on our knees. I have multiple bruises and cuts from Naruto's kunai, on dangerously close to my eye. Naruto isn't fairing any better, if not worse. He has bruised like me, but a lot more cuts from my quills. He also has bite marks on his arms.

Heh, guilty as charged.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Naruto wheezes out, "Ok, no more playing games." I couldn't agree more. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Didn't he do that trick already? But the clone doesn't come at me, he goes behind Naruto. The real one holds out his hand and the clone starts to scratch at it.

I feel a sudden breeze and see that it is accumulating in the palm of Naruto's outstretched hand, becoming blue in color. It is taking the shape of a ball and increasing in size. I just stare at it. If that thing hits me, I'm out for the count!

When he finishes, he dispels the clone. Naruto glances at me and smirks.

"_RASENGAN!_" He yells and runs towards me. I stare at the sphere in horror.

"Move Sonic!" I snap out of it when I hear Sasuke's voice. At the last second, I move out the way but the surrounding wind knocks me to the ground. I try to get up, but Naruto is already on top of me, pinning my hand down on the ground. I start to struggle.

"It's all over now! I won and you lost! Stop struggling, you can't go anywhere. I got your hands pinned!" He laughs, and he's right. I can't move my hands, but I can still move my legs! Bad move on your part Naruto!

I position my feet so they are in between me and him, then push with all my strength. He soars backwards with a shout and crashes into the tree I used against Choji and Kiba. That tree has been so helpful to my today!

Naruto hits it with a thud and he groans, sinking down onto his knees.

"Hn. Better than I expected out of you, Sonic." I hear Sasuke say, but my eyes don't leave Naruto's slumped form. At Sasuke's voice, however, his head snaps up to stare at him. Jealousy is written all over his face. I guess he has never gotten such comment from Sasuke, and for the latter to give it to me, a stranger really, must be really hard for him.

Naruto starts to growl loudly and he snaps his eyes over to me. I cringe because they are not their usual crystal blue, but a blood red. Also, he looks more feral. The whiskers on his cheeks are darker, also his teeth and nails are longer. I haven't seen him take any soldier pills, but the most noticeable thing about Naruto is that he is surrounded by red chakra. I glance to the audience and see that they aren't really phased by this, like they have seen it before. Kakashi and Tsunade, however, look a little nervous.

I turn back to see that Naruto is on his feet standing by the tree, dark red eyes boring into mine. I don't know what to do, so I just stare back into those blood abysses.

I blink.

I then feel a sharp pain as Naruto uppercuts straight into my chest. I hear something break.

"AAHH!" I scream as I am propelled into the air. At least my voice is working now. I fly for before hitting the ground hard. The pain in my chest increased so much that it feels that it is on fire. I try to move my left arm, but stop when pain shoots into my elbow. Damn, must've broken that when I landed.

I lift my head groaning only to cough up a good amount of blood. Opening my eyes, Naruto is standing were I once was, on the other side of the field.

"Naruto! You hit him too hard!" Sakura cries out.

Naruto just crosses his arms, and looks over to me. His eyes are back to blue. "I did that so he couldn't get up, and I got him his voice back!" He smirks and start to walk away to where the others are. I start to tremble with anger.

He thinks he is so high and mighty! He didn't even _win_ yet and he is walking with his head high. He also goes against Kakashi's wishes and breaks my _goddamn _arm and lord knows what else! Well screw Kakashi!

Who's ready to go faster than the speed of sound? Hell yeah, I'm ready!

So I slowly rise up, causing Naruto to look back at me from halfway across the field. I stand straight, ignoring the pain in my chest and left elbow. I'm gonna need one hand for this. I look straight into Naruto's eyes and give him the most evil smile I have ever done. No one has ever made me this mad, even Eggman! He seems unnerved, and the smile widens. I move into a track runner's position.

"Here I come!"

Then I speed towards him, kick him to the ground, and twist his arms to his back in less than a second.

"H-How?" Naruto sputters.

I answer by twisting both his arms until I hear two cracks. What? He broke my arm and I don't know how many ribs! Naruto moans in pain and I hear footsteps coming closer. I turn to see Kakashi, Sakura and Tsunade. Kakashi comes up to me with a smile on his face, the other two look worried however.

"Congrats Sonic, you've won! Now would you get off my student, if you please." Tsunade and Sakura both agree with minute nods. Naruto doesn't deserve to be helped, the way he was acting. Jealousy of all things! But if I don't get off him, who knows what his friends will do.

I stare at Kakashi, then look down at Naruto, whose face is twisted in agony. I sigh and step away from the blonde. As soon as I do, the pain in my chest returns ten-fold. I drop to one knee.

"Dammit." I whisper.

Tsunade comes to help me up while Kakashi and Sakura help Naruto. We lock eyes, I give him a wicked grin, and he looks away scowling. I am cheering on the inside. I won against this arrogant dobe, as Sasuke would say. And there is nothing Naruto could say that can change that.

We make our way to the others in silence, and when we get there, no one makes a sound. I carefully sit down in the grass, away from the others grouping around Naruto, using my right arm. I glance over there to see Kakashi and Sakura help Naruto all the way to the ground and I grin.

Tsunade, the only one not near Naruto, checks me over as Sakura does the same to Naruto. Tsunade is the first to speak. I guess it's procedure here to shout out someone's injuries to the world.

"Minor cuts and bruises but a deep cut under the right eye. A broken left elbow and two cracked ribs on the right side." Everyone looks at Naruto with half disappointed, half impassive looks.

"Naruto…" Ino says. You can tell she is one of the disappointed ones.

"What?"

"You know what you did was wrong." Naruto looks over to me and I just stare back impassively. He just grunts and drops his head. Now Sakura starts to say Naruto's wounds.

"Minor cuts and bruise but a very dark bruise on his left check. He also has many bite marks on his arms." The others turn towards me, and I grin to show off my canines. Sakura continues. "Lastly, he has two dislocated shoulders." Everybody now looks at me with wary dispositions. Don't blame them.

Finally Sasuke speaks up. "It's a tradeoff, broken bones for broken bones." Now Tsunade and Sakura start healing me and Naruto. Kiba speaks up next. "That fight had to be the best one I've ever seen! You know, until…" He doesn't even have to say it. It was when either Naruto or I went bat shit crazy. I'm leaning towards when I did though. "Also, Sonic, who know you can break the sound barrier?!" I grin, but then cough up more blood.

"Yeah, I would like to see the extent of Sonic's abilities." Neji speaks up. There are murmurs of agrees until Tsunade cuts in.

"There will be no asking of questions until he is fully healed, understood?!" Everyone nods.

Thirty minutes pass and Tsunade is finishing up my elbow, the last thing she needs to heal. Sakura had finished with Naruto five minutes ago because Tsunade took her time healing my ribs to make sure they were in the right place.

I look up into the find it a navy blue and the moon high. There is no sign that it ever rained here, besides the moist ground. We have been out here fighting all day! And the odd thing is, I don't feel hungry. Guess the French toast held me over.

The others are having little conversations about the questions they want to ask me or about random stuff that doesn't hold my attention. I take a deep breath and feel the cool wind fill my lungs with fresh air. Then Tsunade pulls away from me.

"Move it and see if it hurts or not." I nod and bend my arm, no pain. I smile at her. "Ok, then you're all fixed." As soon as she says that, Kiba jumps up.

"Alright! Question time!" Everyone, including Naruto, gets a little closer to me. Naruto is the only one glaring though.

"First off." Choji turns from me to Naruto. "Why did you go all psycho on Sonic?"

Naruto looks at the ground and shuffles his feet. "I guess I overreacted when the teme complemented him when I was trying to make myself an equal to him, that's all."

"You shouldn't get all worked up about that, you idiot."

"Shut up Teme! And… you saw him out there." I think that is a complement.

"Naruto, you shouldn't be like that over a loss."

"I know, but I was so sure I was going to beat him! I mean, just look at him!" Ok, that isn't one. I scowl at him and growl quietly. I flinch when someone put their hand on my shoulder. I turn and am surprised to see Shino shaking his head. Somehow, this calms me down.

"Yeah, speaking of Sonic." Shikamaru starts and everyone stares at me. I sigh, here it comes. "What I would like to know is-"

"Wait a minute!" Tenten interrupts. "I'm sick of the bad vibes between these two, how about we make them apologize!" She finishes pointing back and forth between me and Naruto.

"YOSH!" Lee yells and I cover my ears to minimize the damage. "IT WOULD MAKE THEIR YOUTHFULNESS SHINE!" I take my hands down, and everyone is eyeing my cautiously.

"That's a good idea, Tenten, since we know that Sonic can speak our language." Ino agrees.

"Naruto." Kakashi says. "You first because you had the worst attitude." Naruto glares at Kakashi.

"Fine." He turns to me and speaks softly. "Sorry Sonic."

"Aww! Now was that so hard?" Kakashi coos, and he is at the receiving end of a glare again.

"Now it's your turn Sonic." Shikamaru yawns.

"Sorry Naruto." I then get up and stretch. "Oh and guys, I don't feel like answering any questions today. See ya at the house!" I speed off before anyone says a word


	10. Chapter 10

**Sasuke: So, more than a little violent, aren't you?**

**Sonic: Shaddup, I'm not usually like that. Naruto just ticked me off.**

**Sasuke: He annoys me almost every day of the week, and you don't see me causing bodily harm.**

**Sonic: But has he gone crazy on you before?**

**Sasuke: …**

**Sonic: I prove my point.**

**Revenge**

I race back on the path and the wind whips past my face. That's one of the reasons I love running so much. I reach Sasuke's house in less than a minute. The others are probably recovering from the sonic boom I gave them. I chuckle. They won't be here for another ten minutes.

Walking up to the front door, I turn the nob only for it to not even budge. I sigh, of course the door would be locked! I look around for something to pick the lock, but no luck. I scratch my head. How am I going to get inside?

Looking up, I see multiple windows, but they are closed from what I can see. I cross my arms and tap my foot. There is only one way to do this, and hopefully Sasuke will understand why I have to. I get closer to the door and kick it in. The door flies off the hinges then crashes onto the floor.

I step around it and head towards my room to get ready for a must need shower. After I get my towel and soap, I leave the room to see mud footprints on the floor. I shrug. That, along with the missing door, is how they know I'm here and not half way across the world.

Striding up the stairs, I take them two at a time. Inside the bathroom, I peel off my gloves and shoes and dump them into the bin. Hopefully they will be cleaned soon. I turn on the shower water, wait until it is warm enough, and step in. I lather, rinse, and repeat.

Stepping out, I grab my towel and dry off. Looking in the mirror, I examine myself. There are some deep cuts left over, but they have scabs over them. That's the extent of my injuries; Tsunade is a good doctor. I'm guessing that Naruto looks about the same.

About to walk out, I hear voices downstairs. I press my ear against the door.

"Man, who would've thought?" It is Kiba's voice.

"Yeah, he has the nerve just to get up and leave!" I can sense animosity in Naruto's voice.

"Wait!" Ino cries. "How do we even know he is even here?"

Sasuke grunts, "The broken down door and footprints on the floor isn't enough proof for you?"

She laughs nervously. "Guess I didn't put the two together."

"Of course you didn't." Sakura retorts.

"What was that, Billboard brow?"

"Did I stutter, pig?"

Shikamaru sighs. "Can you two just shut up? I think I heard shower water when came in, so we can just wait on him."

"Good idea Shikamaru." Choji agrees and I hear the rustle of a bag of chips. Where does he fit his constant supply of food?

"Why should we?" Neji asks. "He said he didn't want to answer any questions today. Plus, it's really late. We should wait until tomorrow."

"Just in case he changes his mind." The same lazy voice answers. Yawning, I take Neji's side on this one. I'm probably not the only one tired and wanting to feel the comfort of a bed right now.

"Fine. We can wait." Neji responds.

"Hold up. We are missing someone. Where's the old hag, Kakashi sensei?"

"She went back to the tower." The tower? What is that? "Don't worry, she will be back tomorrow. Tsunade is just as curious as we are."

"I'm not curious."

"Are you sure Dobe? Don't you want to find out a little more on the person who you lost to today?" Sasuke mocks.

"No one asked you, Teme…" I hear Naruto mumble.

I snicker and wrap the towel around my waist. My stomach rumbles and I'm reminded that I haven't had anything since breakfast. I think there are some apples beside the fridge…

Opening the door, all chatter downstairs goes quiet. I roll my eyes. Do they all have super hearing or something? Well, it wouldn't surprise me if they did. I head downstairs only to see everyone staring at me. God, creepy much. I grin at them until I catch Naruto's gaze.

We just stay like that for a while; you could the tension in the room with a knife. Then I snap my eyes from Naruto and onto Sasuke. "Hey Sasuke." He perks up.

"What?"

I gesture upstairs. "My gloves and shoes are upstairs in the bathroom's bin. Could you have them cleaned by tomorrow?"

Nodding dumbly, he responds, "Yeah, sure."

I smile and wink. "Thanks bud. I owe you one!" I turn around, putting my hand up to wave. "Goodnight everyone!" Not waiting for any response, I enter the kitchen and head towards the apples. I pick one up that isn't bruised, rub it off on my fur, and take a bite out of it. I hum out of satisfaction as I make my way to my room. Inside, I drop my towel on the floor and jump into bed.

"This stay," I take another bite of my apple. "has gotten more interesting. I wonder what's in store for me tomorrow."

A few more bites of the apple, I finish it, and place the rind on the nightstand by the bed. I'll throw it away later, too lazy right now. I lie down under the sheets and let the wonders of sleep take me.

**The next morning**

The smell of breakfast drags me out of the hold of sleep. I roll onto my back and yawn. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I look up at the ceiling. Blinking to focus a little, I sit up and scan my room. My mouth twitches upwards when I see my clean gloves and shoes by the wall.

I hop out of bed and go to slip them on. I'm about to open the door, but then remember the finished apple. Don't to be a _rude_ houseguest. I cringe when I look at it, forgetting that apples rot. It looks all brown and mushy. I delicately pick it up by the stem and hold it out at arm's length.

Now I walk out the door and down the hallway to the kitchen. There is a trash can at the end of the hallway; I throw the rotting apple into it. Hearing conversation, I look around the corner to see the others eating, with my plate at my empty spot. I also see that Tsunade is back, like Kakashi had said. They haven't noticed me yet.

I light bulb goes off in my head and I smirk.

I zoom around the table, into my seat, scaring everyone at the table half to death.

"Gah!" I look over to see Sasuke choking on a piece of fruit that he was chewing. Well, that wasn't supposed to happen. After hitting him on his back a few times, he spits out the piece of orange that had threatened his life. "Thanks." I nod and am about to dig in when Tsunade speaks up.

"Ok, new rule! No running in the house!" I drop my fork and look at her incredulously. Is she serious?!

"But this is my house." Sasuke protests.

"Shut it Uchiha! I can afford someone getting injured here! Got too much paperwork already…" She mumbles and my stare turns into a glare. Running never hurt anyone! Unless they have scissors…but that's beside the point!

She catches my gaze and we have a staring contest, to see who will break first. The others just look between me and her, like how someone would watch a tennis match. About ten seconds pass then Tsunade's stare turns into a glare. Ok, I know when to not push things farther.

I turn my head. "Tsk, fine. 'No running in the house.'" The last part I mark in her voice. I pick up my fork and start to eat again.

"Looks like we have a comedian here! But that settles it, no running." I roll my eyes and the table descends into silence as we eat. It's that way for a while until someone breaks the silence.

"What's wrong with you all? Just yesterday you couldn't wait to ask Sonic questions." Kakashi asks curiously.

I chuckle. "I agree with him." I jab my thumb over to Kakashi. "Y'all even wanted to stay up to wait for me!" Everyone looks surprised, but then Neji speaks up.

"Don't lump me with them. I wanted to wait."

I wiggle my finger at him. "But you stayed anyway."

Neji crosses his arms. "Hmph." Ha! Backed him up into a corner. I snicker and down my milk. I guess they start to loosen up because Kiba talks next.

"Ok, I'll go first! How long have you been able to talk?" I decide I want to mess around with him for a bit.

"You should know that one. I have since yesterday." Kiba face palms and sighs.

"You know what I mean."

I wave at him dismissively and put my hands behind my head. "My whole life. Everyone from where I come from speak English."

"Really? That's cool!"

"A-are there h-humans where y-you are f-from?" Hinata softly says. I glance at her and smile.

"Yep! There are also guys like me. All kinds of species of animals that can walk and talk like I can. My friends for example. Rouge is a bat, Knuckles is an echidna, Cream is a rabbit, Tails is a fox, while Amy and Shadow are hedgehogs like me."

"What a wonderful group of friends!" I wince when Lee shouts in my ear. I turn towards him.

"Ok listen bud. I don't know why you keep yelling when everyone _is right here_, but that needs to stop." I point to my ears. "These are sen-sit-ive." I drag the word out to make a point.

"Oh, why haven't you said so?" I just stare at him blankly.

"Because I couldn't…You know what? Never mind." I face the others and lean on the table. "Any more questions?"

"Yeah." Shikamaru says, showing curiosity. "Can everyone run like you in your world?"

I laugh out loud at that. "Of course not! They don't call me the fastest thing alive for nothing."

Sakura gasps. "Really?"

"Yep!"

"You know," Sasuke mutters. "I believe him. Considering that my Sharingan couldn't keep up with him."

I ruffle his hair. "It's alright! No one can!" He swats my hand away and glares daggers, like a certain hedgehog I know. That reminds me. "Back to you Shikamaru, not everyone can run like me, but they have other special abilities too."

"So," Tenten starts. "If your friends come here, they can all beat us like you did?"

"Nah, not all of them. The ones who probably can are Knuckles, Shadow, two of my other friends Silver and Blaze, and maybe Amy. Knuckles has incomparable strength, Shadow can run almost as fast as me and use energy to shoot beams, Silver can use telekinesis, Blaze can produce fire, and if you get Amy mad, she pulls out her hammer."

"Oh my God!" Ino cries. "'I feel so inferior!"

"Calm down." Tsunade cuts in. "I'm pretty sure we have abilities that they don't."

I nod. "Yeah, no one I know can take over someone's mind like you can. That seems like something Eggman would do with his robots."

"Eggman? Who is he?" Kiba asks.

"Him? Oh, he is just this fat 'evil' doctor that tries to take over the world. I stop him every time, that's why I'm the hero there." I put on my signature cocky grin.

Naruto raises his eyebrows. "You're the hero?"

I eye him warily. "Yeah, with the help of my friends sometimes."

"Seriously? All by yourselves? But you're a kid like us!" Whoa, whoa, I have to stop him right there.

"How old are you?"

"I'm twelve." Twelve? They are younger than I thought they were!

"Well don't put me in the same boat, I'm fifteen." Naruto narrows his eyes and crosses his arms.

"No you're not, you don't look any older than Neji!" I just stare at him flabbergasted.

"The hell?! How are you gonna tell me how old _I _am?"

I'm standing now with my arms crossed, glaring death at Naruto, who is shrinking back in his seat.

"You know what?" He whimpers. "Forget I even brought it up." Why am I even getting mad? He is a kid for Pete's sake! I sigh and sit back down. I point to him.

"Now it's my turn. Why did you get all murder crazy on me yesterday?" The others nod in agreement.

"Wait Naru-" Tsunade tries to stop him for some reason.

"It'll be fine Old Hag!" Naruto rubs the back of his head and laughs nervously. "Well…I know now that I over reacted. But, it isn't all _my_ fault. You see, um….it's my chakra! Yeah! Uh, when my emotions get out of control, I get a power boost. That's why I sorta went overboard."

I process all the information given and no that he isn't telling me something, but I'll let it slide for now.

"Don't make it seem you're all powerful Dobe. I can beat you any day of the week."

Before Naruto can respond, I cut in with a dismissive wave. "Yeah yeah, we all know you have a 'stronger-than-thou' attitude, duckbutt, so you can let it rest for a while."

The boy in question's eyes narrow before he just looks away with a grunt. I grin, having been used to the reaction. "You are just like my rival Shadow. He speaks in grunts too."

"That's the one who can run almost as fast as you?" Sasuke asks.

"Yep! We have races all the time because he thinks he can outrun me." I just lean back in the chair and put my hands behind my head again. "Any more questions about my adventure filled life?" They shake their head no, then Tsunade claps her hands together.

"Now that you have answered all your questions, let's talk about what we are doing today." That peaks my interest and I give her my full attention.

"What are we going to do?" Kakashi answers for her.

"Testing."

"Testing?" I sit up straighter. Wasn't that what we did yesterday?

"Yeah." Tsunade takes back hold of the conversation. "We need to see how you fight."

I scrunch my eyebrows together. "I already-"

"This is different than yesterday." Kakashi cuts me off. "Everything then was a fight with rules and regulations. Most of it anyway." He says the last bit glaring between me and Naruto. Naruto looks away and I just shrug. It's all in the past now.

"So," Kakashi continues. "today's fighting will have no rules. The genin will come at you meaning to kill. And we expect you to do the same."

My ears perk up at that. Kill?! What kind of world is this? Sonic the hedgehog does not kill! Yes, I thought about myself in third person.

"Whoa there! Isn't that a little too extreme? I don't want to kill any of them!"

Shikamaru sighs across from me. "It's how we always train. Don't worry about it because if you don't already know, Tsunade is the best doctor in Konoha." Konoha? Guess that's the city they live in.

Kiba starts to chuckle. "But we experienced ninja don't need to worry about that, do we?" I frown while Kiba keeps boasting. "You will be the one that will need her!" Akamaru yips in agreement. I scowl and bristle my quills. Does he not remember what happened just yesterday?

Naruto then speaks up. "Ha! I agree with Kiba!" He turns towards me with a smug grin. "We will attack you as three-man teams, like we are trained to do." Laughing, he continues. "And plus, it's great revenge, right guys?" I stop scowling when those words sink in.

Today isn't going to be a good day.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sasuke: A hero, huh?**

**Sonic: (grins) Yeah, jealous?**

**Sasuke: (rolls eyes) As if. You being a hero just solves the mystery around how you can fight.**

**Sonic: (ruffles Sasuke's hair) It's ok if you are! Look, let me give you an autograph.**

**Sasuke: Can you stop doing that!? And you know you're going to fight today against us **_**in teams**_**, or did you forget?**

**Sonic: (mumble)**

**Sasuke: (smirks) What was that?**

**Sonic: (crosses arms) I **_**said**_** that I didn't forget! **

**Sasuke: One more thing, you're going to lose.**

**Sonic: You can't see into the future!**

**Sasuke: (activates sharingan) Can I?**

**Sonic: (shrinks back a little) Can you?**

**Sasuke: (walks away chuckling)**

**Sonic: Wait! Can you?!**

**Chaos**

I start to get very nervous at Naruto's words. Who knew he could hold a grudge? Also, the glints in the other genin's are creeping me out, _especially_ Sasuke's and Neji's. I shiver and put up my hands.

"Hey, isn't that a little unfair? What, three against one?" I look at Kakashi then Tsunade, hoping they have some compassion.

They glance at each other, at the younger ninjas, back to each other, and share a sinister smile. Ohh….I don't like that.

"You're right Sonic." Tsunade sing songs. "In real life here, you can have way more than three opponents!" She claps her hands together. "Alright! No more teams! Everyone against little blue here."

That went the total _opposite_ to where I wanted it to go! I stand up and try to plead. "Wait! I take that back! You don't have t-" Sasuke stands up too and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"She's right you know." I turn to him with wide eyes. "You don't know how many enemies you'll face out there, and believe me," He pauses and shifts his eyes toward the others, grinning. "none of us are complaining."

Ugh! Some help he is! I can really see the similarities between him and Shads right now…

**G.U.N. Base**

"Ah, so you have come to report your findings about the robbery yesterday at the bank?" The GUN Commander asks Rouge and Shadow, who have just walked in.

"Yes we have commander." Rouge answers. She sets down a folder full of files on the desk. Shadow waits silently beside her. "In these files we have all potential persons that could be suspects-"

"ACHOOO!"

Rouge jumps and both she and the Commander look at Shadow, who is rubbing his nose. "Shadow? Are you-"

"_ACHOOO!_"

Rouge, more than a little irritated that she got cut off twice, glares at Shadow. The one at the receiving end of the glare sees this and pinches his nose to prevent from sneezing again. He makes a 'go on' motion with his unoccupied hand.

She snorts and slowly turns back to the Commander, still eyeing Shadow. Seeing no incoming interruption, she continues. "As I was saying, we have found multiple individuals for the crime. Now I recommend we-"

"_**ACHOOO!**_"

At Sasuke's house, mansion, thing

Looking at Sasuke then everyone else, I cross my arms. This idea is ridiculous, but I have no choice in the matter. With a defeated sigh, I mutter. "Fine…"

Lee jumps up and smiles brightly; I have to look away if I want to keep my eyesight.

"YOSH! Now we all agree, let's go!" I grasp my ears and wince. Seriously, what do I need to do?

Sakura, sensing my distress, pleads, "Lee! Calm down! You don't want two dislocated shoulders, do you?" Whoa, I wouldn't take it that far. But the threat must have worked because Lee deflates and stutters.

"N-No…"

"Good." Tenten says patting Lee on the back. "Now that all the explaining is done, can we please go on to beating, erm, training Sonic?"

I sigh while everyone else laugh. "If y'all are done planning your gang bang, I would like to get this over with."

Kakashi stands up and picks up his book. "Alright, let's go to the training field!"

While we are walking, I put my hands behind my head and soak in the warm sunlight. The ground's still damp from the downpour yesterday, but hey, it doesn't matter to me. These are the types of days I just like to run or just take a nap on some random roof.

I take my eyes off the landscape and turn to my opponents for today. The girls are all whispering to each other like when Cream, Amy, and Rouge when they get together. Naruto, Kiba, Choji, Lee, and Shikamaru are joking around not unlike when Tails, Knuckles, and I are together. Well, Shikamaru is more like adding a comment every now and again. Sasuke, Neji, and Shino are all in their own little worlds silently walking along like Shadow when I'm not interacting with him.

Sighing again, I kick a pebble, wondering how they're doing. I'm feeling a little homesick myself. I miss everyone, even Amy a bit. Wonder how long am I gonna be here…wait, why am I even here? They say they want to test me, but for what? Shaking my head slightly, I clear my thoughts and decide to get to that mystery later.

Looking to my left, I see Kakashi reading that book he always has on him. His giggling and blushing keeps me from asking what it is about. I'm pretty sure I don't want to know.

Eventually we make it back to the clearing again. I see a pond at the far edge of the field. Note to self: don't go near the water, ever. How did I miss that the first time?

I look around the clearing and feel an irresistible urge to run. I walk up to Tsunade, giving in to the feeling. "Hey, do you mind if I do a little warm up?"

She sends a puzzled look my way, then shrugs. "I don't see why not." Hell to the yes!

I grin and jog in place for about thirty seconds. Wouldn't want to pull a muscle, do we? When I finish, Kiba comes up to me. "Now that you're done warming up-"

"Wait, you thought that was my warm up?" I chuckle when Kiba nods. "Well, watch this."

I take off in front of the trees lining the clearing to get maximum running distance. I laugh feeling the wind whipping across my face. It feels so good to run and the sense of freedom. Finishing about five laps of the huge field in ten seconds, I stop in front of everyone.

Feeling the tailwind brush against my back, I stretch. "Oh, that felt wonderful!" I start to walk to the middle, but not hearing following footsteps, I look back to see the others standing still. I raise an eyebrow. "Well, are y'all coming or what?" That snaps everybody out of their stupor, and they follow me to the middle.

"Sorry, but we don't normally see supersonic blue blurs around here." Sasuke comments.

Grinning, I poke him in his chest. "You better get used to it! Oh, and on that subject," I turn to Tsunade. "why exactly am I here anyway?"

She puts her hand on her hip. "Well, there are two reasons. One:" She raises one finger." Is that we want to see that if we need any type of help later on, we could call you. And two:" She raises another one and smiles sheepishly. "We really don't know how to get you home. The seal we used to get you is gone and I really don't think we can just poof you home since you are from another world all together."

Ok, I was following her until the last part. "What? You have no idea how to get me back home!?" This is bad. Dammit, am I gonna be stuck here forever?

"Hey calm down! I'm pretty sure we will find a way sooner or later." Ino speaks up. "Just get to know our world in the meantime. It'll be fun!" If you put it like that…I guess this counts as a little vacation time.

"Ok. Staying here for a while isn't going to hurt anything."

"G-Great!" Hinata cheers with a soft smile. "Y-You won't h-have a bad time h-here."

Naruto taps his foot and crosses his arms. "Can we get to fighting now? I'm tired of conversation!"

"I agree with him!" Kiba, Ino, Tenten, Choji say at the same time.

Tsunade grins evilly. "Wait a minute, I just need to explain the 'rules'. There are none! Hinata and Sakura get in on this one also!" What? I understand Hinata, but Sakura's ability is just healing. How is she gonna help in a fight? I voice my question and Sakura answers.

"I can heal people, but I have pretty strong punches too, right Naruto?" She holds up a fist and Naruto flinches, rubbing the back of his head unconsciously.

"Yeah! She can hit really hard…" Alright, not gonna let her near me in this fight if I want to win.

"Old Hag, can we start now? We have been standing here for forever!" Naruto whines.

"Shut up, Dobe. We have been standing here for only five minutes." Sasuke says.

"No one asked you!"

Tsunade rubs her temples. "Be quiet brat! Ok Sonic, you stand in the center and everyone else surround him while Kakashi and I watch from the same place as yesterday." They are going to surround me too? Just perfect.

I stand still while Tsunade and Kakashi walk away and the others circle me with grins on their faces. Well, I can't tell with Shino, but I think he is still miffed about his bugs.

Kakashi yells. "Everyone ready?"

There is a mixture of yeahs, of courses, and grunts while I just sigh accepting my fate. Slipping into my fighting stance, I answer Kakashi, "Let's just get on with it…"

"Then," Tsunade looks way too excited over there. "Begin!"

The first three people to move are Sasuke, Neji, and Naruto. They shout "Sharingan!" "Byakugan!" and "Multi shadow clone jutsu!" all the same time. Silently cursing, they rush at me. I can handle Sasuke's and Neji's eyes, but Naruto actually got me with that clone trick.

Sasuke reaches me first so I dodge his punch, block his kick, and kick him myself in the side to send him sprawling. Next is Neji and he tries to aim for my chest like last time. Having learned my lesson, I dodge as he keeps aiming for the same spot. "Can't turn your back on me now, Sonic."

I glare at him waiting for an opening to strike…there! I punch him hard in the stomach, doubling him over, sending him to his knees. He is gonna be there for a while.

Then Naruto and his five clones come charging and I spin attack all of them, including the real one. The five clones poof while Naruto stands in front of me with a hand on his bleeding arm.

"Fang over fang!" Kiba's voice surprises me and I turn around 180 just in time to see Kiba and Akamaru coming straight at me. Waiting until the last second, I step to the side to let the two soar past and hit Naruto square in the chest. I look over my shoulder to see Naruto and Kiba tangled in each other and chuckle. I wish I had a camera right now.

I hear the buzzing almost too late. Looking to the left, I see not only bugs, but also weapons of every shape and size, courtesy of Tenten, flying towards me. I _cannot_ get distracted here. Curling into a ball, I let loose another spin attack to get rid of the bugs while dodging all the weapons Tenten let fly. How many does she even have?

I uncurl just to hear a duel battle cry, so I glance around to see Sakura and Lee coming at me with their fists raised and ready. Letting them come, I dodge at the last minute only to get punched in my cheek and stomach at the same time. Why do I have a sense of déja vu here?

To answer my question, the Lee and Sakura that hit me poof in a puff of smoke. Shadow clones? When could they- I look up to see the real Sakura and Lee with Naruto smirking victoriously. Inwardly face palming, I rub my cheek and grin. They are in for something new today.

Taking off, I run fast circles around them. The wind picks up, and then eventually forms a small tornado to pick up the ninja. I hear them yelling as the tornado's winds scoop them up off the ground. Still running, I see Ino a ways away with Tenten and Shino helping Kiba and Akamaru, obviously they fared worse than Naruto. Grinning, I send the tornado their way and hear them yell too. It keeps going a little past the tree line and gives out, dumping the victims in the trees, dangling.

The ground starts to shake. Goddammit, what now? I turn around to see wrecking ball Choji rolling my way. I sweat drop, is this guy serious? He needs to get a new move or something! After simply sidestepping him, Sasuke's shout reaches my ears.

"Grand Fireball jutsu!" I glance from Choji to in front of me to see a huge hot fireball flying towards my position.

"Oh sugar honey iced tea!" It's way too late to jump to the side! I want to hit myself for how dumb I am; they used Choji as a distraction!

I fall to the ground just as the flame passes over. It is so close that I feel the heat on my back and am pretty sure that some quills got singed. I jump back up. That was a close one!

Before I sigh in relief, Neji is right in front of me. I kick him back after he hits my right arm with his palm. Now it's useless, ugh! Things turned ugly real quick.

Neji, apparently having done his job, steps back and let Sasuke, after regaining his breath, attack me. We go fist to fist, but he is taking full advantage of my disability by going for my right side mostly. I break into a sweat trying to keep up with him. He eventually lands a punch on my left cheek, the same one hit earlier, which throws me backwards.

I let out a pained grunt as I land hard on my back. I need to eat what they're eating if that means strength like that! Struggling to stand because of the swaying ground, it takes a while to get balanced. When I do, my left leg goes out and I fall back to the ground on my knees, not expecting the lack of support. What happened? Neji was nowhere near me! The cause of my non-responding leg then steps into view.

"Hinata?"

She smile sheepishly and giggles a little. "W-we have to fight like it's l-life or d-death, remember?"

I curse. To tell you the truth, I had completely forgotten about her. She was smart, biding her time for the right moment to strike. Shaking my head, I give her a cocky smile.

"It's not over yet!"

I try to stand back up to find that none of my muscles are responding. The smile is completely gone by now. My arms, head, legs, everything are all stuck. What the hell is going on?

"Why can't I move?" I mutter out loud. Thank God I can still move my eyes and mouth.

Looking up, I see that the tornado victims have finally rejoined us. Then everyone forms a semi-circle around me.

"That was an impressive fight." Shino says and all the others nod in agreement.

"Yeah!" Exclaims Sakura. "Who knew that you could create a tornado out of thin air?"

"And spin in a ball like that for attack _and _defense!" Tenten adds on. "Very impressive tactic for getting rid of Shino's bugs and dodging my weapons!"

"But," Neji starts, stepping forward, smirking. "We caught you." I am about to respond, but Sasuke steps up besides Neji.

"Ah, our plan worked perfectly." Plan? What plan? They didn't have any time for one! Sasuke smirks seeing my confusion. "We, Neji and I, thought of one when you first stopped paying attention to us. That was when Naruto attacked you with his clones. After we made it, we started to spread it to people you were not fighting at the time. Everyone eventually got it and the plan includes you eventually getting caught by Shikamaru's shadow." He glances at the tree line beside me and I follow his gaze to see a dark shadow connecting me to Shikamaru.

_Dammit! _Forgot about him too!

Eyes locking back onto him, Sasuke's smirk gets wider. "Now it's over."

What can I do now? I can't move anything!

"It's alright Sonic! You'll get us next time, maybe." Naruto brags, with a face splitting grin on his face. Ugh! I have to have something, some…where…

Wait, I have my Chaos emerald in my quills! I forgot about it. Which I don't know how, I should've felt it in the shower or something, but whatever. I have a chance!

Smirking back, my eyes show pure excitement. "Are you sure about that?" Everyone looks confused while I close my eyes and focus on the hidden light blue gem. It starts to radiate its energy and I hear Kiba whispering.

"Is it just me, or is the back of his head glowing?" Oh you don't know half of it Kiba. Time to steal my rival's signature move!

Chuckling, I open my eyes. I glance at all of them and finally settle on Sasuke. "It's time for…"

"Wait." Naruto looks confused. "What are you doing?"

My grin just got wider.

"CHAOS CONTROL!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Sasuke: What in the heck does Chaos control do?**

**Sonic: (tossing the emerald in his hand) That is for me to know, and for you to find out.**

**Sasuke: (glares) Sonic…**

**Sonic: Dude, calm down. I'm pretty sure you don't even have to wait long to see what this little bad boy can do.**

**Sasuke: (sighs) I guess you're right.**

**Sonic: (gives a thumbs up) Of course I am! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!**

**Sasuke: (rolls eyes) Conceded much?**

**Sonic: (grins) Have you looked in a mirror lately?**

**Sasuke: Mirror? What would a mirror have to do with…..shut up.**

**Dim**

I then teleport myself behind Naruto and pull out the sky blue Chaos emerald while they are still looking at the spot I was not a second before. The energy flows through me and I regain mobility in my arm and leg. This gem can sure come in handy!

Neji's brain reboots first. "Wh-Where did he go?"

Naruto starts to wave his hands in the air frantically. "He was just right here!" I chuckle a little at that sight.

Ino calls out to Shikamaru. "I thought your shadow was supposed to hold him!"

Before the shadow wielder could yell and give away my 'hiding spot', I kick the back of Naruto's knees to knock him to the ground. Naruto collapses with a surprised yelp and the others look at him, then me.

"Told you it isn't over." I grin, tossing the emerald around a bit. "This little thing here gives me the power to teleport where ever I want to. No matter what." They stare at the gem in awe. Well not everyone. Sasuke and Neji look ticked off that their plan fell to pieces.

"Wow." Choji mutters, eating a bag of chips. I'm not even going to question anymore. "I'm not even good at sensing energy, but I sure can tell that that thing has some power!"

Sakura then speaks up with her eyes sparkling. "Forget all that stuff! It's like a huge diamond; it even shines like one!" I always thought Sakura and Amy are most similar, but now, Sakura fits Rouge's persona perfectly.

"Who cares if it's pretty!" Kiba yells. "We gotta take if from him so he doesn't win this fight!"

Shikamaru finally joins his friends from the edge of the clearing and the others huddle around him, leaving me on the outside. I hear him talking. "We have to think of a new plan. Now since he can teleport…"

He drones on about the stratagem while I put the emerald back in my quills. "Do y'all always talk about your plans in front of your opponent?" I say under my breath, but the two closest to me, Tenten and Hinata, hear.

"Pretty much." They mumble at the same time before turning back into the huddle. That is a bad mistake, turning their backs on me. I chuckle and focus on the blue gem's energy again.

"Well it's time to change that! Chaos control!"

When I warp in the middle of the little football huddle they have going on, they all backpedal, surprised that I appeared out of nowhere. Most of them lose their balance and fall on their backs. Looking around, I see Naruto getting up first. It's time to turn this fight around!

"Chaos control!" I appear next to Naruto and he barely has time to register anything before I give him a hard kick to his side. Naruto rolls a couple of yards away and groans. Thinking I have enough time, I start to warp to everyone giving a multitude of punches and kicks. This is too easy! The battle will end soon.

That all changes when I warp to Sasuke to give him his presents. Before I even touch him, he jumps up with impressive speed to punch my left temple. Damn, I see stars and the ground moving again. Then in the corner of my eye, I see the emerald fly out my fur and roll away from me. That was his plan all along!

I turn back to glare at Sasuke who is smirking. "You could only teleport with that diamond, had to get it away from you." Like that will stop me! I'll just get it back!

Grinning at him, I respond. "Good plan but-" Detecting movement, I look over to the gem again to see a beat up Lee picking it up. "Oh hell…" This is bad, _very bad._ Maybe he doesn't know how to work it…?

To my displeasure, Lee glances between the gem and me, then smiles. "CHAOS CONTROL!" He yells. I don't even think a single thought before the wind gets knocked out of me and go airborne from a well-placed kick to my chest. I crash into a tree and wish that I would stop, but no, I go through two more trees before hitting my back on a boulder. Groaning and closing my eyes, I slump to the ground. Now I know how Choji and Kiba felt.

My eyes fly open when I sense another person nearby to see Lee with the gem. He grabs my arm and hurls me back into the clearing. Because of my awkward position in the air, I don't land on my feet. Instead, I hit the ground hard and barrel roll a few times before coming to a stop. So much for turning the fight around.

Then I hear a familiar shout and barely dodge a huge flame coming from Sasuke. All of a sudden, there are three Narutos surrounding me. Just great. I go into fist to fist combat mode with all three to have two poof out of existence and the real one to get knocked to the ground from a well-aimed punch to the face.

I place my hands on my knees. My body is starting to give out. This battle is lasting way longer than it was supposed to! I'm gonna need to-my train of thought is interrupted by a barrage of weapons heading straight towards me. Can you give me ten seconds, _please_?

My body is too battered and sluggish to even try to dodge all those projectiles, so I curl up into a ball to minimize the damage.

Let's just say, that doesn't work out like I thought it would either.

I still feel all the cuts and gashes the blades made, and then I cry out when one particularly sharp one cuts my exposed forearm deeply. Dammit! That one hurt way more than it should have. When they let up, I uncurl and stand up with great difficulty, clutching my bleeding arm.

I barely regain my balance before I'm forced back onto my knees when both of my legs give out. Neji and Hinata appear, the former with a grin and the latter with a slightly worried look in her eyes. I guess it's because of my appearance. And I can't even get mad that I fell for the same trick a second time. Sooner or later my body was going to collapse from exhaustion.

Everyone surrounds me and Tenten steps up closer. "Uh, sorry Sonic. I thought you would dodge those weapons, not brace them…"

"It's not your fault." I try to reassure her, wincing when I move my cut arm. "My body wouldn't have moved fast enough to dodge, so I did the next best thing." I chuckle at my statement. Where has the 'next best thing' got me?

"Well you're really caught this time. You can't do anything, can you?" Naruto asks and I shake my head.

"But just in case you try to get away anyway," Choji looks to the side and I turn that direction also. "We have Shikamaru's shadow coming towards you right now." I sigh, it's official, the fight's over. Wait a minute…

"Where's the emerald?" I ask and everyone turns to Lee. He gives a two thumbs up.

"I must have dropped it in my YOUTHFUL fighting!" The people around me fall anime style while I just stare at him blankly. What or who made him like this?

Ino stands back up and waves her hand dismissively. "Don't worry guys, I see it. It's over there." She points and as soon as I look over, Shikamaru's shadow passes over the emerald and it is not as bright as before. Now I'm hit with a strong sense of déja vu. I swear I've seen a Chaos emerald do that before, but where?

"Something wrong Sonic?" Sakura asks and after pulling a blank, I answer.

"Nope, it's nothing." The shadow now reaches me and I realize now that I lost the fight. With one little ounce of hope, I try to move my arms. No luck. Not like I could've done anything with two unusable legs and a cut arm anyway.

Sakura calls over Tsunade and Kakashi. The former does a slow clap walking over while Kakashi puts away his book. "That was an interesting battle Sonic. Especially great turn around, even for a moment, with that gem over there." The blonde congratulates. She then comes over to me. "What hurts the most?"

"You can just heal my legs so, you know, I can walk." She rolls her eyes at that. "Also, can you heal this cut on my arm? It's deep and it really hurts. I could barely move it."

"Alright, this won't take long." Before she starts, she points to the aforementioned item. "That gem has a very interesting ability." The blonde then works on my frozen body.

"I AGREE!" Lee loudly yells. My ears ring. I can never get used to that voice! "When I used it, I felt a rush of energy!"

"Really?" Kakashi wonders, rubbing his chin. He then turns to Shikamaru's general direction, for the boy is still hidden by the trees. "You can let him go now, the fight is over. Oh, and can you pick up the gem on your way over?" I hear a muffled 'troublesome' and chuckle lowly. The shadow's hold dissipates just as Tsunade steps back, finished with me. Damn, that woman works fast.

With the feeling back in my legs, I stand up slowly, still exhausted, and examine the hurt arm. Nothing. It's like it never happened in the first place.

"Yeah, good fight guys." I say stretching my overworked muscles so they won't be stiff later on. "Still wasn't fair though…" I mutter that part, but Kiba catches it.

He pats my shoulder. "Hey, you still did great out there buddy! You lasted way longer than I thought you would!" I playfully punch him in his arm as Shikamaru hands over the emerald to Kakashi. He inspects it then looks at me curiously.

"What?"

He examines the gem again. "Well it seems that the emerald doesn't have the same power as before…" I tilt my head in confusion. What does he mean by 'the emerald doesn't have the same power'? How does that even work? It was working perfectly fine before!

Naruto walks over to Kakashi and Tsunade eyeing the emerald in the former's hands. "Can I see it?"

"Sure." Kakashi hands it over and Naruto rotates it in his hands.

After a moment, he shouts, "Chaos control!" Nothing happens. He is in the same place, no movement. What's wrong with the emerald? I have a weird feeling that I should know the answer or at least the cause of this phenomenon. "Why doesn't it work?" Naruto glances at me. "Can you only use it for a certain amount of time or something? Does it need to recharge?"

Shaking my head, I answer. "No, it works all the time! Or it should. I don't know what's wrong with it!" I scratch my head in confusion. Sakura then asks for the gem and Naruto gives it to her.

"It's still pretty when it's like this. Can I have it since it is pretty much useless right now?" She has a giant smile on her face with hope expressed greatly in her eyes. I hate to burst her bubble but…what am I saying? It's my favorite chaos emerald and it's _mine,_ dammit.

I sigh. "No Sakura, you can't have it." She starts sputtering and, having had enough, Ino rips it from her grip.

"Get a hold of yourself, Billboard brow! Here Sonic, just keep it in your sight at all times." She advises eyeing the pink haired girl beside her.

"I'll keep that in mind." I say chuckling as I reach for the gem. As soon as I touch it, however, I feel a weak static shock. Ino makes a surprised sound so I guess she felt it too. Smiling apologetically, I back up some. "Just toss it to me so you won't get another jolt."

She nods. "Good idea."

As soon as I catch the emerald, I see some dark substance leave the emerald and absorb into my arms. I examine my arms and the emerald.

"What the…?"

And then the pain begins.

I scream when something akin to acid travels and spreads from my arms all over my body. It is so hot; it is burning hot _everywhere_. My muscles starts to cramp and I have to fall forward on my knees and elbows because my leg muscles are _screaming_ in pain. I couldn't move because none of my muscles would respond besides reacting strongly to acid in my veins.

The burning reaches my chest and my breath hitches. My heart seems like it is working overtime to get rid of _whatever_ it is in my system, but it isn't working. Now, it burns every time I take a breath, so I take in less and less oxygen trying to not make the pain worse.

"Make…it…stop…" My voice is hoarse by this point and I can barely focus my eyes on anyone in front of me right now. Are they calling me? I wouldn't know because my hearing has been muffled. Black spots enter my vision and, to my extreme relief, I fall unconscious on the grassy ground.


	13. Chapter 13

**Sasuke: (sits down with bucket of popcorn) What a series of unfortunate events. Want some?**

**Sonic: …**

**Sasuke: (shakes bucket) Come on, it's buttered.**

**Sonic: …**

**Sasuke: Sonic? What's wrong-**

**Sonic: (waves hands in the air) How in the hell can you eat popcorn right now?! I could be **_**dying**_**! There is a chance I will be **_**dead**_** next chapter!**

**Sasuke: (eats popcorn) Ralach. Ze schory would bee choo schort if you thied. **

**Sonic: … 'Relax. The story would be too short if you died.' Is that what you said?**

**Sasuke: (swallows) Hn. Plus, you are only unconscious right now.**

**Sonic: (sighs and grabs some popcorn) Can't argue with that logic…**

**Festive**

**Sasuke POV**

"_Sonic!_" We all shout over his cries of agonizing pain. His screams go through me and I cringe when I hear the desperation. Then the cries stop. Everyone is frozen, watching the prone form of Sonic the hedgehog trembling on the ground.

"Make…it…stop…" I hear him whimper. Then his breathing gets harsher and he looks at us with unfocused eyes. He stays there, on his knees and elbows, for a while before he collapses on the floor.

I step forward with bated breath to check if he is still breathing. I sigh in relief when I see his chest rise and fall. Turning around towards the others, I put my hands in my pockets to hide the miniscule trembles. "He's alive, but out cold."

"Here we go again…" Neji mutters and Ino hits him.

"Don't be mean!"

Tsunade moves forward to give a full examination of Sonic. She checks his temperature, heart rate, everything. "There is nothing else wrong with him, but why would the emerald hurt him if it didn't before?"

Shino walks over and hesitantly picks up the dimmer blue gem. "Maybe because it is not as bright as before." The others agree.

I decided to speak up. "That's the only excuse we have right now. We have to ask him when he wakes up." Now I need to know who is carrying the hedgehog. It sure isn't me after what happened last time. "So, who's carrying him? I don't want to do that again." Everyone shuffles their feet and looks everywhere but Sonic and me.

Seriously? Bunch of pansies…

"Hey Dobe." Naruto turns to me slowly. "You have good healing right? If he slices you up, you will heal in about thirty minutes." Good job brain, thinking under pressure like that.

Naruto sighs and mumbles, "Fine, but if he slices my arm off, I'm taking it out on you!" I scoff and glare at him. He could _try_ to.

Naruto picks Sonic up, very carefully, and said hedgehog moans a little. This is almost exactly how it went when we first brought him to my house. He sets off with his baggage and the others follow him. I take to the back of the group along with Kakashi.

When I am about to exit the clearing, however, my curse mark pulses and I put my hand over it. What? Why is this acting up now? I eventually glance over my shoulder to see a snake slither away. Is that why…?

"Sasuke? Are you alright?" Turning forward again, I see Kakashi eyeing me closely. Eyes zeroing on the shoulder my hand is resting on. The odd thing is, the mark isn't doing anything out of the ordinary right now. I don't think this should be brought to attention. It could have been some random thing.

"Yeah. Just an itch." Kakashi narrows his eyes, then shrugs.

"Then come on, you have the keys."

We set off and once in a while I hear Naruto up front complain under his breath or see him wince. Now he gets to know what it feels like. After about five minutes, Hinata asks Tsunade how long will Sonic be out for.

"Hmmm…It's almost five now, so he'll wake up around seven. He should be in good enough health to explain, if he can, what happened to him."

Hinata nods. "A-Alright."

Sakura claps her hands together and smiles. "At least he will be awake for dinner!"

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto calls. "Can we have ramen?"

"No Naruto! You can't eat ramen all the time!"

"But Sakuraaaa!" Naruto whines. I shake my head at his child-like behavior and walk up to Shikamaru.

"That emerald really is something else. I don't think teleporting is the only thing it can do."

He sighs. "Yeah, I agree with you. It seemed to be radiating a ton of energy that holds a lot of secrets, but we can't do anything about it until he wakes up. What a drag." I nod silently then hear a bit of Tsunade's and Kakashi's conversation.

"-do that?"

"Listen, Kakashi, if we take the emerald, we could have that power at our disposal! We can leave Sonic alone if we discover what it's capable of!"

Kakashi sighs and scratches his nose. "You have a point, but we have to think about morals here."

Tsunade put her hands in the air. "Kakashi! Why would we call someone if we didn't have to? The emerald's power will be more than enough in any situation, I'm sure." Kakashi just grunts and goes back to his book, but not without saying one last thing.

"What would you do if someone stole your whole supply of sake?"

The blonde just put her face in her hands. "You're so impossible." I frown. She just can't take the emerald. Who knows what Sonic would do? Did she not see what happened to Naruto? Those death glares at Lee? I glance around to see that Shino heard the conversation as well. His face is unreadable, but his fists are clenched. I hope she makes the right decision here.

We make it to my house and I got the keys out to open the door. I walk in and wait for Naruto with Sonic. The others settle in the living room and Naruto follows me to Sonic's room.

"It was a good call to use the clone move you used on him before." I praise him thinking when Sonic fell for the same trick, a second time. "That knocked his ego down a little." I finish, smirking.

Naruto grins and chuckles, "Yeah, I loved the look on his face! And your fire trick with Choji and Neji? Genius! Well that worked until he surprised us with that rock of his." We are now in the room now with Naruto putting Sonic on the bed. I look at said hedgehog and shake my head.

"And I don't think he's done surprising us yet. Let's go."

We walk back into the living room and the second I step in, I get slapped in the face with the stench of sweat, blood, and dirt. Pinching my nose, I try to protect myself from the foul smells of the people in this room.

"Alright." My voice is altered a bit and Naruto starts laughing beside me. I glare at him and start again. "You all need to clean up, now. It smells horrible in here."

"Since when did you get so bossy Uchiha?" Neji jeers.

"When my health became a factor. I'm taking mine first in the left bathroom." Naruto is about to open his mouth, to protest no doubt, so I raise my hand. "It's my house." He closes his mouth with a snap.

With that, I make my way to my room upstairs to get my towel and soap. Walking inside the bathroom, I place my ripped and filthy clothes inside bin. Iruka is going to have a big load today. Stepping into the shower after it warms up to an ideal temperature, I lather up with the soap.

The fine spray of water rinses off the dirt and grime. I wince when the soapy water hit some of the open cuts on my body. Sometime later, I leave the shower and dry off with the towel.

Rubbing off the fog on the mirror, my reflection doesn't look pretty. There are cuts on my arms and bruises on my torso. Never judge a book by its cover because Sonic is no pushover. Opening the drawer under the sink, I get some bandages and wrap them around some of the more serious cuts, then leave the bathroom with the towel around my waist.

"Bathroom's free!" I yell downstairs to the others and turn around to head towards my room, only to pause when I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. Looking back, Naruto heads to his room to get his supplies.

"Took ya long enough." He mumbles under his breath. I roll my eyes and step into my room.

After putting on clean clothes, I head downstairs into the living room to see that most of the others are clean and patched up. How long was I in the shower?

The clock on the wall reads six o'clock. Wow, I really need to take shorter showers. I see everyone besides Ino and the dobe looking at the emerald on the center table. Sitting down on the smaller sofa by a bored looking Kiba, I look at him curiously.

"What did I miss?" I ask him leaning on my hand on the left arm of the couch.

Kiba shakes his head and sighs. "Honestly, I have no idea. I've been blocking them out. I think they are trying to activate it again." I nod. They are trying to see how powerful it really is, no doubt.

"They won't get anywhere. I think only Sonic knows how, and he's out of commission right now."

He just shrugs and nods towards the others. "Tell them that." He closes his eyes and I tune into the conversation.

"I think…" Tsunade starts. "We should just pour some chakra into it."

Neji scoffs. "But it isn't from our world, remember? So it shouldn't activate with chakra."

Hinata nods. "And plus, c-chakra was the cause of i-it shutting d-down."

"But there has to be something…"

"I got it!" Naruto shouts apparently hearing the conversation coming down the stairs. "If Shikamaru's jutsu disabled it, maybe it can turn it on again?" Shikamaru seems to think about it.

He sighs. "We could try it, but I doubt it would work. Also, I don't want to risk it staying like this permanent, if it isn't already." Naruto's mood deflates and he plops down on the couch between me and Kiba, invading my personal space.

I grunt with displeasure then decide to jump into the conversation to try to drill some common sense into their minds. "How about we wait until Sonic wakes up? He obviously knows the most, and it will save us from all this mindless guessing."

Tsunade sits back and crosses her arms. "Ok, we'll just wait until-"

"Hey guys! I'm out of the shower." Ino cheerfully says coming down the stairs. The older blonde glares at her and Ino flinches.

Coughing, Tsunade coughs and starts again. "We'll wait until Sonic wakes up because, like what Uchiha said, he will most likely know what's up."

Seeing that the subject has been dropped for now, I reach forward to grab the dull blue gem. Alternating it between my hands, the used to be power and energy packed gem is nothing more than a glorified rock. Lee said he could feel the energy, but now, nothing. Sighing, I put the rock back and lean into the sofa, only for Naruto to put his snoring head on my shoulder. I breathe out harshly.

Stupid Dobe and stupid Sonic for not being here.

**Sonic POV**

Groaning, the feeling returns back to my body and every limb seems to weigh a ton. I slowly open my eyes and blink to focus. Eyes traveling to the clock on the nightstand, it reads seven-ten in the afternoon. So I was out for two hours? Meh, I've been through worse.

After trying to move my body and failing, I recall today's earlier events. The ninja and I were fighting and I lost badly, then Shikamaru's shadow travels over the emerald, making it lose its power. When I had hold of the gem, some dark substance got absorbed into my body, then an experience I do _not _want to relive happened, and I ended up passing out to wake up here.

And today isn't even over yet.

My stomach growls while at the same time getting a whiff of dinner. I strain my ears and it doesn't seem like anyone's in the kitchen. Wait, I hear some pots and pans, so I guess Sakura is cooking by herself again.

I try again to move and my arms actually respond this time. Sitting up on my elbows, I can tell that the episode did a number on my system. My muscles are stiff and it takes way more effort it usually does to move them. I grunt as I carefully swing my legs off the side of the bed.

Ok, now it's time to stand without falling down and making a fool of myself. I stand up, wobble a bit, and put my hand on the bed for balance.

After staying like that for a while, I take a small step. No leg problems? Great. I take another step and another after that. Looks like I won't embarrass myself in front of everyone when I go out there.

Inspecting myself, I just now realize that I _seriously_ need to wash. Dirt, blood, and sweat are mixed together everywhere. I glance back at the sheets and they aren't any prettier. Well, I'm sure that Sasuke will wash it. It is his house after all.

Walking out the room and down the hallway, I see Sakura busy in the kitchen.

"Hey Sakura!" I call and she jumps a little.

"Oh! Hey, Sonic! Feel better now?"

I just shrug and grin. "I've woken up in worse states than this." Eyeing the stove, I ask. "Do I have enough time to take a quick shower before dinner?"

She looks between me and the stove. "Yeah, you should have enough time. The others are in the living room." I two-finger salute her and walk into the living room to find everyone sleeping. I have to stifle a chuckle when I see Naruto leaning on Sasuke.

Again, I wish I had a camera.

I take the stairs two at a time and head for the bathroom. Glancing into the mirror inside, I see that my prior inspection was not far off the mark. Dried blood and dirt covered most of my body. I take a deep breath.

It's time for a bath.

I run the water after putting my gloves and shoes into the overflowing bin. Going back to the mirror, I drag my fingers through my quills. No, let me rephrase that, _try_ to drag my fingers because no matter how hard I try, the fur just doesn't want to give. "Ah screw it!" You win this time!

After convincing myself that I can't drown in one foot of water, I get in the water and scrub to get rid of all the stains. I pull the plug when I deem myself clean enough and dry off. Finishing, I try again to untangle my quills and my fingers travel smoothly through the azure hairs. I pump my fist smiling in victory.

Leaving the bathroom, I walk downstairs just in time to see everyone go to the kitchen for dinner. I follow them only to pause when my eyes spot the emerald on the table in the middle of the room, still as lifeless as ever. I go over to hesitantly pick it up, and am ever so thankful that I don't pass out again. Whatever happened was a onetime thing.

I enter the kitchen to when everyone is just starting to sit down. Smirking, I zip over to my seat only to earn a glare from Tsunade.

Grinning sheepishly, I try to save myself. "Sorry! Heh, force of habit."

She narrows her eyes. "Just don't let it happen again."

I shrug. "Whatever." Then a vein appears on her forehead and everybody tenses.

"You shouldn't have done that." Choji warns. Sakura then tries to play peacekeeper here, pausing in her cooking.

"Calm down, he was just joking!"

Tsunade relaxes some. "Better have been." I just chuckle and pull out the emerald. Still having that déja vu feeling, I realize that the pain I experienced was familiar too.

"Sonic." I look at Neji curiously. "What can that emerald do when it's activated, we know it can do more than teleport." The others nod in agreement, even Kakashi and Tsunade, who are listening carefully.

I nod. "Well yeah, but I can't do any of the extra stuff. Those powers belong to my black haired rival."

Sasuke and Naruto glance at each other. "What can he do?" The latter asks.

Turning towards him, I answer. "I've seen him harness the energy to warp, as you have seen, throw energy spears, and create explosions."

"Wow!" Kiba shouts. "All those things with that gem? That's amazing!"

"But, he can only use it when it's glowing, right?" Shikamaru asks, waiting for conformation. I nod sadly, handling the emerald.

Sakura interrupts the convo when she shouts, "Food's ready! Tonight is hot dog night!" Ok, hot dogs aren't that bad…wait, HOT DOGS? Awesome! They aren't chili dogs, but they're close enough!

I perk up. "Yes, they are my favorite food! How many do we get?"

Sakura looks at me strangely. "As many as you want…"

"Great! Then give me five!"

"Five?" Ino questions. "Isn't that too much?"

"Ino, this isn't a rare occurrence. Choji eats five every hot dog night." Tenten reminds her.

"Do you want to have a race Sonic?" Choji suggests.

"Sure, why not? Just to let you know, no one has been able to beat me before!"

"Well, get ready to lose today!" Choji challenges.

I just grin cockily as Sakura gives everyone their plates. Most have two, some have three, but only Choji and I have five on our plates.

"Ready?" Naruto decides to referee the event. "Set…" We position ourselves. "GO!"

I dive into my plate and start to eat the hot dogs in three bites, stuffing my face. After twenty seconds, I am done. "Finished!" Looking at Choji who is on his third one, I smirk. "Good try! Better luck next time!"

There is a thick silence around the table until Sasuke breaks it with an incredulous voice. "How did you even do that?"

"Yeah!" Lee pipes up. "You beat Choji in all his youthfulness!"

"Really, like it was almost impossible how fast you ate them!" Sakura agrees.

Chuckling, I start to give them an explanation. "Well, I've been eating chili dogs since-" I then get cut off by a sharp pain in my stomach. "Dammit, this hurts…"

"You ok Sonic?" The pain gets worse and spreads all over my body. Trying to answer, all I get out is a low groan. I hear chairs sliding and people standing up. Sasuke must have been trying to get an answer out of me because he nudges my shoulder and I scream at the touch. The pain is excruciating!

"Quick! Someone get some medicine from the bathroom!" Tsunade orders overs my sounds of agony. As crazy as it sounds, I think I just ate the dogs way too fast. I hold up my hand and everyone freezes.

"Stop…just…ate…too…fast." I pant out and try to grin, but I have a suspicion that it looks more like a grimace.

"If that's it…" Kakashi says suspiciously, then eye smiles. "Then you should be able to walk it off, right?"

I stare at him incredulously, then nod. "Al…right." Pushing my chair back, I shakily get to my feet. I take one step and the pain increases tenfold. My body seizes up and I collapse on the floor.

"Sonic!" Multiple people yell and get closer. I start to panic, hoping that they have enough sense not to touch me.

Apparently Sasuke sees my panicked expression and yells. "Don't touch him!"

Hinata looks askance at Sasuke. "B-But he's-"

"I said don't!"

It seems like everyone stops where they are because all I hear is my own harsh, shallow breaths. If I could, I would have sighed in relief. But now it's taking all my strength to not pass out from all the pain.

Then my bones start to crack.

I let out a blood curdling scream as my bones move around and readjust themselves. My muscles seize even more and my thoughts get scatter. I can't focus on anything anymore. It seems impossible, but the pain increases even _more_ when I feel my teeth, nails, and fur grow longer.

My screams end as the pain and transformation ends. _Goddammit!_ Is this really happening again? I thought this ended when I defeated Dark Gaia!

"Sonic?" I hear Sakura take a cautious step forward. "You alright?" I don't even try to move or speak, my body is numb all over from the pain I had just gone through.

No one else speaks, I guess they are waiting to see if I'm still alive or not. Ok, the feeling is returning to my body slowly. Moving an arm, I hear an intake of breaths. Geez, dramatic much?

I carefully sit up and open my eyes. The expressions on everyone's face range from terrified to vaguely interested. Standing up fully, examining myself. Yep, this is exactly like last time, dark fur and all. Looking forward, I see that I'm equal height, if not taller, than the genin.

Leaning against the wall, I close my eyes, and sigh audibly. I can't believe this shit is happening all over again.

Someone shifts and my eyes open to see Tenten coming closer. She hesitantly grins. "I kinda like the new look, Sonic. Festive."


	14. Chapter 14

**Sasuke: You're a wolf now?**

**Sonic: (head in hands) I don't want to talk about it.**

**Sasuke: Why? I'm curious.**

**Sonic: (glares) I said drop it!**

**Sasuke: (rolls eyes) Fine.**

**Sonic: …**

**Sasuke: …**

**Sonic: (throws hands in the air) Gah! I'm not a wolf! Just a werehog! I turned like that in the past because this enemy called Dark Gaia had some of his darkness crap inside me.**

**Sasuke: Thought you said you didn't want to talk about it.**

**Sonic: (glares harder) I didn't! But I could see the curiosity written all over your face! I could tell you would not leave me alone if I didn't tell you.**

**Sasuke: (smirks) Uchihas always get what they want.**

**Sonic: (sighs) I hate you so much sometimes.**

**Night**

My eyes widen as she steps even closer. Has she meet with the egg shaped doctor before? I'm pretty sure he said similar words when he did this to me back then. Tenten is about a yard away from me when Neji calls out to her.

"Wait Tenten! Don't get any closer!" I glare at him with such ferocity that Neji takes a quick step back. It's not like I'm gonna bite her head off or something!

Tenten stops in front of me and raises her hand to her forehead. Then she moves it up to mine, then back down again to hers. Taking her hand down, she starts to laugh and I look at her like she's crazy. "It just feels weird to not to look down at you." She explains. I just roll my eyes, ha ha.

The tense atmosphere dissipates some with Tenten breaking the stand-off. That is until Kiba opens his big mouth.

"It doesn't matter how _tall___he is now. He now looks like a small, helpless, young puppy!" He laughs at his own joke.

Hold up. Back the damn truck _up_! Did this little _mutt_ just call me _helpless_!?

I start to growl deeply and Tenten takes a couple steps back and the others tense right back up. Kiba, who just wiped a tear from his eye, looks at me innocently. "What? It's true!" I'm tired of this guy's mouth!

Stretching my furry arm across the room, I grab Kiba's neck and pull him towards me. Everyone stares wide eyed, to surprised to move, but I care about them right now. My arm drags Kiba right in front of me; he stares at me with fear in his eyes and his hands try to pry my clawed hand from around his throat.

Holding him about an inch from the ground, Kiba starts to struggle for air. My growling stops only to be replaced with a cruel grin. Ha! Who's the helpless one now?

It seems that everyone has returned to their senses because they are now shouting my name and telling me to let go. Fat chance, that isn't going to happen until dog boy here gives me an apology.

Someone finally gets the memo when Naruto shouts out, "Kiba! I think he wants you to say sorry!"

Kiba coughs and glances at Naruto. "For…what?" Is this guy serious?

My grin fades into a scowl and start to growl again. Tightening my hold, he begins to struggle more. Kiba sputters and coughs harshly, but can't get any words out. I ignore the people trying to stop me from a distance until a see a movement to my left. Glancing over, I see it's Kakashi with that stupid eye smile of his.

"Uh, Sonic?" My ears perk up, signaling him to continue. "He can't breathe." Way to state the obvious, but what's his point? "That means he can't talk." My eyes widen as those words sink in. It would help if I give him some way _to_ apologize, huh?

Glaring at Kakashi, I grudgingly let Kiba go. He drops to the floor on his hands and knees, coughing. I cross my arms and wait for dog boy to stop coughing up his lungs. He looks up at me, "Sorry, Sonic." My glare decreases in intensity and I nod. Took him long enough.

Moving my eyes from Kiba, I see scared and nervous faces and realize that my anger had gotten a little out of control. I take a deep breath and let it out, then give the others my signature grin. They relax some, seeing that I'm not a threat anymore.

Tsunade steps forward, eyes narrowed. Is she still worried? I'm not gonna attack anyone…without cause. "Sonic." She says hesitantly. Here it comes, the whole 'don't attack your friends' speech. "Are you ok? You kinda worried us when you collapsed like that."

Shocked, I just nod. Is she going to dismiss what just happened not five minutes ago? She stops in front of me and looks over my shoulder, I glace back to see Kakashi helping Kiba up.

My eyes focus back on her and almost step back in fear at her intense glare. "Good. Now that you're better…" Then she lunges at me and I have no time to dodge or attack.

"Tsunade, no!" Lee and Ino reach for her, since they are the closest, but they are too slow. Before I know it, I'm thrown against the wall because of a strong, _very_ strong right hook. Slumping down to the ground, I rub my face, already feeling the bruise form there. That bitch!

Growling, I stand back up and lunge towards here with surprising speed. Before I could to her and punch her lights out, there is a sharp pain in my side. In midair, I veer of my course and fall hard on the floor, hitting my head on the hardwood. Groaning, I lift myself up and wait for the stars to disappear. Man, I gotta stop being kicked around like this; they hit hard!

When the white spots leave, I see Sasuke and Sakura guarding Tsunade and Naruto standing in between me and them; all with angry looks on their faces. Bet you five dollars Naruto's the one who kicked me.

After a palpable silence, Choji speaks up, looking from me to Tsunade. "Man, what just happened?"

Shikamaru sighs. "Sonic tried to get to Tsunade after she punched him, but Sonic deserved it." He says watching Kiba rubbing his still sore neck. He turns to Naruto. "Good aim with that kick, Naruto."

"Thanks." Naruto says, not taking his eyes of me. "What in the heck is wrong with you? You _attacked_ our hokage!"

"That's unforgivable." Sasuke glares at me and Sakura nods in agreement. This is what I get for letting my anger control me, and this is no way to make friends. Dragging my hand through my quills, I turn to Tsunade, hoping to patch things up. I have to keep my anger in check from now on.

"Alright, alright." Most look surprised at my gruff voice. "I guess I deserved both hits. Sorry Kiba and Tsunade." When I finish, I touch my face and wince. "Damn woman! You can punch hard!"

Everyone relaxes, slower than before, and Tsunade's wary look turns into a smug grin. Gotta fix that. I give her my wolf grin. "Not as strong as I am now."

She scowls. "It doesn't mean you get to use us as targets!"

I hold my hands up. "Ok look, I apologized." Growling again, I glare. "What else do you want?"

"Hey, hey! Calm down!" Ino yells. I turn my attention to her and stop growling, but the scowl is still on my face. "Can y'all not fight for two minutes?"

"Fine." I say crossing my arms.

"Now that we are all calm, at the moment, I would like to know about this new form of yours." Neji pipes up and I walk back to my seat. The others follow and sit down, all except Lee. Turning towards him, I give him a smirk.

"Come on, I won't bite." He hesitates for a moment, then sits down beside me. I turn back to Neji to answer his question.

"Well in this form, as you can tell, I have more strength." Kiba cringes in the corner of my eye. "And, as you also have seen, my arms stretch. I am also a little more violent."

"Oh really?" Tsunade mutters under her breath. "I haven't noticed." Calm Sonic. Breathe in and out. No need to jump across the table.

"So…" Kakashi drawls out. "Is that it?"

I shift uncomfortably in my seat. "For the strength and flexibility, I guess my speed is taken away. I can still run fast, but not near as fast as before. That's why I hate being like this so much."

"Really?" Sasuke questions. "I would love that kind of power."

"Of course you would Sasuke."

"What do you mean by that, Dobe?" A tick mark forms on Sasuke's forehead.

"Oh nothing…"

I listen at those two go at it until sighing; I need to go for a run. The movement always helps when I'm stressed, no matter what form I'm in.

After I stand up, Hinata softly asks, "W-Where are y-you g-going, Sonic?"

Stretching some, I answer. "I'm going for a run."

"Oh no you don't" Tsunade interrupts. "You're not going alone." She looks around. "Sasuke, you go because it is your property. Naruto, you go because you have your clones if something…_unexpected_, happens." I can tell that is aimed at me particularly. "And lastly, Kiba you go so you and Sonic can bond a little better."

Sasuke nods and Naruto yawns. "Whatever, I need some fresh air anyway."

Kiba looks nervous, but stands up anyway. Huh, I thought he was going to chicken out of this.

"If that's all." I look askance at Tsunade, then step away from the table. Giving the people accompanying me a wolfish smile. "Let's go!"

When we walk out the house, Sasuke points to my left. "There is an abandoned trail close to here that loops around to end back at the house. It's over that way."

I smirk and gesture. "Lead the way." He huffs and walks in front. I hear the footsteps of Kiba and Naruto behind me.

"You're not going to attack me while my back's turned, are you?" He asks and I can tell he isn't serious about it.

"Nah, you're not worth the energy."

"Like you could touch me anyway."

"Just shut it Uchiha." I playfully growl and see Sasuke's shoulders shake in silent mirth. Now it's silent besides our soft muffled footsteps hitting the ground. Putting my arms behind my head, I look to the navy sky, seeing stars shine across the dark blanket.

We get to the tree line and walk through the impeding bushes. On the other side, there is a dirt path that looks a bit overgrown, but still path nonetheless. My eyes follow to where it leads until the pathway takes a soft left and goes out of sight. A grin slowly grows on my face. This is a perfect track!

Naruto's voice cuts through the looming silence. "Hey guys, do y'all want to race?" He turns to Kiba. "Kiba, you game?"

Kiba pumps his fist while Akamaru, on top of his head, barks with excitement. "Heck yeah! I was beginning to think this would be boring!"

After giving Kiba a smile, Naruto glances at me. "How about you? It's the main reason we're out here, right?"

With the grin still on my face, I give him a thumbs up. "I'm always down for a race!"

"Sasuke?" Naruto questions with a raised blonde brow.

"No. I don't have time for these games."

"Please teme!"

"I said no dobe!" Oh no, little duckbutt is gonna race if he likes it or not. I face him and let loose the best puppy eyes I got in my system. Sasuke's eyes widen a fraction, then he scoffs.

"That doesn't really work when you have those teeth." He finishes, pointing at my mouth. But I don't give up, and eventually Naruto and Kiba come over too. The raven looks between the three of us and sighs.

"I'll do it to only stop you three from making a fool of yourselves."

Naruto jumps up and looks around. "Alright! Right here is a good place as any for a starting line. First one back to Sasuke's wins!"

"Right! Let's line up!" Kiba shouts and he, Naruto, and I take position. We all see Sasuke still standing where he was, having not moved an inch.

I look at Sasuke in annoyance. "Well?" He shakes his head and lines up also, muttering under his breath. "Who wants to count down?"

"I'll do it!" Naruto volunteers. "Ok, on three! 1, 2,…3!" Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba take off in the trees beside the trail. I stand there stunned for a moment, is that even fair? I worry about that little fact later…I gotta catch up!

Starting to run, Naruto's voice from ahead reaches my ears. "You're too slow!"

I growl to myself. That's _my_ line! I try to run faster, but my unwieldy arms throw off my balance more than a little bit. Damn, guess I'm gonna have to go full out for this one.

Falling down on all fours, my speed automatically triples from what it was before. The wind whips past my face and I laugh when the trees fly by, blurry. My muscles propel me faster and I start to feel the adrenaline rush, _woohoo!_

Eventually, I catch up to the three ninja. Looking up, shock filled faces are staring right back down. "Who's too slow now?" I smirk and race ahead, leaving them to eat my dust.

Two annoyed groans and an equally, if not more annoyed, grunt sound. Smiling, I keep running. They are up against the fastest thing alive! (well maybe not at this second) There is no way I'll let them win, gotta keep up my reputation!

I stay in the lead for a couple minutes, then hear the others catching up. They are hopping from tree to tree, but don't go much farther ahead, guess they are at their limit. That would be great only if I haven't reached mine too.

We are all neck and neck, Naruto and Kiba on my left, while Sasuke's in the trees to my right. We are at this stalemate for at least three minutes until my eyes narrow at an obstacle ahead of me. The trail ends here. How in the hell am I going to know where to go?

I turn my head to look up at Sasuke. He notices my gaze and nods, then answers my silent question. "The house is about a mile ahead, so just keep straight into the trees." A ghost of a smirk appears on his face. "Unless it's too much for you." Huffing, I speed up towards the trees even when my muscles scream not to, to prove my point. Ant to my annoyance, they speed up too.

Seconds later, we dive into the trees. Weaving around the foliage, I quick step around, over and under opposing branches and logs. I hear harsh breathing and realize that my tongue is hanging out of my mouth. It is pulled back into my mouth quickly. Hopefully no one saw that.

Finally, I see the house through the thick forest and speed up once again, pushing my muscles past their limits. Ignoring the strain, I break through into the open and glance back to see Sasuke, Kiba, and Naruto emerge at the same time. It doesn't matter now, because they are _behind_ me! Haha! Told you nobody could beat the-

I'm then interrupted in my boasting when a very rude uprooted root trips me up and I go tumbling, losing no momentum. Crashing-

Through the front door.

Into the living room.

And finally into a wall.

Upside down.

So, when I open my eyes, I see everyone either staring at me or at the door where my three racing opponents are. Groaning, I peel myself from the wall to stand up slowly, (the adrenaline is starting to wear off, so my muscle are feeling sore right now), and dust myself off. Glancing at the three boys panting with their hands on their knees, I grin. "I win."

Then Sakura jumps up. "What were you four doing? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She shouts, placing her hands over her heart.

"We…were…racing." Naruto struggles to get out.

"If you four were only racing," Neji speaks up. "why did he," He points to me. "crash through the door?"

With a nervous chuckle, I scratch the back of my head. "Well, you see, there was a root a I didn't see and yeah…"

Sasuke looks back at his door, sighs, and turns to Kakashi. "Looks like you're going to have to fix the door again, Kakashi." The sensei in question just waves him off, not even paying attention to us.

Kiba straightens up and stretches his back. "That was a great race though! We thought you were no match for us!"

"Yeah, until you started running on all fours!" Naruto agrees.

"I think I know the answer, but why do you do that?" Sasuke asks.

"Because my bigger arms are too bulky to run upright. They screw up my balance."

"Wait, like a dog?"

"Wow…" Naruto mumbles. "Shikamaru showing curiosity? Never thought I'd see the day."

Ignoring Naruto, I huff. "If you put it that way, then yeah, like a dog." I make my way towards my spot on the little couch and plop down, sighing when my muscles relax. Sasuke sits beside me and Naruto beside him. Kiba finds a seat on the sectional.

Shikamaru shrugs. "Guess it's convenient."

"Let's back to what we were saying _before_ we got interrupted." I tune Tenten out because my brain decides to focus on the stiffness in my joints. Hell, maybe I shouldn't have pushed so hard. Bending my elbow, I see Sasuke eyeing me as the others continue talking. 'What?' I mouth to him and he just turns away, seeming to find interest in the convo.

Well that was weird….what's up with him? I am about to actually pay attention to what the others are talking about, but I feel a hand scratch behind my ear. Surprised, I look over to Sasuke only to see him still staring forward. It's so weird to see him, of all people, do this.

Unconsciously, I lean into the hand and see Sasuke glance at me. He's eyes leave me, but he continues to scratch. Leaning more into the touch, my brain finally catches up to what I'm doing. _Scoot over! Stand up! Say stop! SOMETHING!_

But, my body doesn't respond to my brain, it does the complete opposite. For some reason, my leg starts shaking like, you guessed it, a dog. Yet the strange thing is, _I can't get myself to move away._

Am I going crazy? I think so.

As a final hit to my pride, the intensity of the race decides now is the best time to take all my energy and make me lean fully on Sasuke and lay my head on his shoulder. Dammit! Now, I can't move even if I wanted too!

He pauses, scoffs, and keeps scratching. I growl lowly so he can only here, but it's lackluster. He quietly chuckles and shifts so he can bare my weight a little better. This goes on for another minute or so before all talking stops and someone coughs.

Opening my eyes, (when did I close them?) I see Neji staring at us strangely. Sasuke's hand tenses and stops moving. I almost let out a whine, but gotta keep whatever pride left intact.

"So, I guess you two are enjoying each other's company, huh?" Kakashi asks with his infamous eye smile. Of _course_ now he pays attention to his surroundings. Everyone else is either surprised or very amused. (the girls fit in this category, and surprisingly Lee)

Sasuke and I both slowly turn our faces toward each other. We stare until we simultaneously move away. I scoot as far away as possible and he does the same without touching Naruto. Sharing another glance, we look to the others.

I chuckle nervously and Sasuke clears his throat. "So, what was the conversation about?"

Kakashi answers, eye smile still in place. "Oh no…we didn't mean to interru-"

"Just…drop it, alright?" I growl. I just want to erase what happened from my memory. Scratching my nose, I ask, "What's going on anyway?"

Shikamaru speaks up. "We were trying to solve the mystery of that gem." He gestures towards said emerald.

"Hinata was about to activate her Byakugan to see if it is really as dead as we think." Shino explain further as he pushes up his glasses.

"Well, that was until," Naruto has his hand over his mouth, badly hiding his mirth. "you two started cuddling!" The dam broke and he burst out laughing.

Sasuke crosses his arms and glares death at Naruto. "Tch, Dobe." That makes Naruto laugh even harder. Ok, I've had enough of this. Leaning forward, I make a fist and stretch it right in front of the blonde's face. I grin as he gulps.

"Right, I forgot you could do that."

"That is a fatal flaw, my friend. Now, will you shut up?"

"Yep."

"Good."

Retracting my fist, I turn to the crowd who are watching the interaction in amusement.

"Hinata." Ino says, getting back to business. "Activate your eyes so we know if it has _some_ energy left over!"

"R-Right! Byakugan!" Hinata focuses on the emerald. She twists it around in her hands. Sighing, she quits moving it. "Nothing. N-Nothing at all."

Sakura shakes her head. "Tsunade isn't gonna like that…"

"Speaking of her, where did she go?" Kiba asks.

She glances at Kiba. "She went back to the tower." He nods in confirmation while my curiosity rises.

Sasuke, seeing my curiosity, enlightens me. "It's the Hokage tower. It's in Konoha and her office for paperwork and other things."

I hum in response. I'm gonna have to see this village for myself soon. Wonder if it's anything like Station Square?

Looking at Hinata examining the gem again, I face palm. Why didn't I think of it sooner?

"Hey Hinata." I call out. "Can I see that for a sec?"

She glances up. "S-Sure." I catch it and close my eyes.

"What are you doin with that, Sonic?" Choji questions after chewing a piece of a chocolate bar.

Opening an eye, I answer. "I'm gonna see if I can draw on some of its energy."

"Good idea Sonic!" Lee gives me a thumbs up and I roll my eyes. Man, this guy…

I close my eye again and focus on the former light blue chaos emerald in my hand. I relax and search for something, anything, but nothing comes up, to my disappointment.

My eyes open to see everyone staring at me with curiosity and hope. I shake my head and they slump in their seats.

"There goes that idea…" Naruto mutters. Kakashi looks at the clock and stands up. He cracks his back, then claps his hands together.

"Alright kids." Sasuke and I huff at the same time. "It's almost midnight and we want to get up bright and early! All of us are going to team train tomorrow with Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai."

"Finally." Neji mumbles. "I'm getting tired of just staying here and babysitting." I glare at him and he holds his hands up. "No offense." Oh! Because that makes _everything_ better!

Standing up, they head for the stairs as I go to my room past the kitchen.

"Goodnight y'all." I yawn and receive various responses. When I get there, I throw off my shoes and stare at my clawed hands, poor gloves. Jumping into my bed, I curl up and fall asleep immediately.


	15. Chapter 15

**Sasuke: Did you just…**_**attack**_**…our hokage?**

**Sonic: (puts hands up) Hey now, the transformation and excess anger was screwing my brain. Wasn't even my fault.**

**Sasuke: (glares) How is it **_**not**_** your fault?**

**Sonic: (sighs) I told you, the-**

**Sasuke: I understood what you said, and I don't care. You didn't have to attack her.**

**Sonic: (mumbles) Maybe I should go for you next time…**

**Sasuke: What was that?**

**Sonic: (grins and waves dismissively) Don't worry about it.**

**Water**

There are three things I notice when I wake up. The joyous smell of breakfast, the sunlight pouring through the window, and the _excruciating_ pain I'm in right now.

Again, my bones crack and readjust themselves, and I roll over so my face is buried in the pillow. The slowest thirty seconds of my _life_ goes by with me muting my screams in the fluff. Nails and teeth shrink back to their normal size before the pain fades away into nothingness. I open my eyes and wince at the light that somehow increased in intensity.

Groaning, I sit up in bed and hold out my arms. They've shifted back to normal and are back to my regular cobalt blue. Letting out a sigh, my arms fall back onto the bed. How in the _hell_ did I deal with this before? A more important question is how long am I gonna have to endure this?

I gingerly slip out of bed and go over to my shoes with a small limp. My muscles are still a little stiff. After slipping on my prized possessions, I realize something is missing. Oh yeah, my gloves are sort of nonexistent right now. Now feeling half naked, my eyes roam the room to stop at the clock. Seven? Kakashi wasn't kidding around about getting up early.

I stretch until my legs don't feel like twigs ready to snap, and then walk out my door. Looking in the kitchen, everybody is talking at the table. Then something out of place catches my eye, plates in the sink. How long were they up?

Also noticing the absence of the older blonde doctor, a grin makes its way on my face. What she doesn't know, won't hurt her. I speed over to my seat at the table.

"Hey guys!" I greet; Sasuke jumps and hits his knee on the underside of the table. Hissing, he closes his eyes. After a moment, he relaxes and his eyes open.

"Why was I the only one to jump?" Sasuke complains, rubbing the bruised knee.

"Because you're the only person not used to his speed yet." Naruto plainly states.

"Speaking of your unnatural talent," Kiba starts. "What happened to your dark fur and stupid anger issues? Not that I'm complaining or anything." He then realizes what just came out his mouth and looks like he is going to dive under the table at any moment.

I roll my eyes. "Kiba, I'm not gonna attack you." He relaxes and I chuckle. "Just don't say anything like that when I turn again."

"Again?" Sasuke questions.

Sakura then places a bowl of grits in front of me and I shovel some into my mouth. "Yeah. I forgot to tell you; it's a night and day thing. At dusk I change into the other form and at dawn I change back. Not to mention it feels like hell on earth each time."

"Really? It hurts changing back too? How come we didn't hear you this morning because I'm pretty sure the whole village heard you last night." Ino says, playing with her hair.

Pushing my empty plate away, I chuckle nervously. "Well, that's because I screamed in a pillow."

"That explains it." Choji mumbles.

Shikamaru lean back in his chair. "At least we don't have to be on guard all the time and watch what we say or do."

"True." Kakashi grunts as he stands up. "Since Sonic's done, let's head for the field."

Lee jumps up. "YOSH! It's time for-"

Covering my ears, I growl angrily. "Lee!"

"I take back what I said." Shikamaru sighs. "Lee, you still gotta be on guard."

A while later, we arrive at the clearing to see three people around Kakashi's age waiting. There are two men and one woman. She has long black hair and stunningly familiar ruby eyes. The man next to her is in a very relaxed stance, almost slouching, smoking a cigarette. I scrunch my nose up at the smell.

Lastly, there is this man that looks _exactly_ like Lee, green spandex in all. He has a bowl haircut and a bleached white smile that makes me squint. He waves enthusiastically when he spots us. I think this man is why Lee is the way he is now. All I'm hoping is that he is quieter than his mini-me.

"HELLO MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS!"

That hope is torn apart into many, many pieces.

Neji and Tenten groan besides me, guess he is their sensei. I truly feel sorry for them.

"GUY-SENSEI!" Lee shouts right beside me, so I glare and scowl at him. "Um…I can't wait to start training…"

The eyes of the newly arrived jonin widen, even Guy's. They aren't used to Lee being quiet? Wow.

Three pairs of eyes travels over to me with a sense of wariness. What? I never hurt the kid! Kurenai is the first one to step closer.

"So, you all brought Blue here so he could watch?" She pauses at the genins' confused looks. "Oh, Kakashi came and told us when you all named him."

"O-Oh, but his n-name isn't B-Blue." Hinata corrects Kurenai.

"Huh? But I thought-"

"Yeah, but I told them my name is Sonic." I interrupt, giving her a grin.

Guy's and Kurenai's eyes bulge while Asuma drops his cigarette. "You can talk?" The smoker asks.

Giving him a thumbs up, I answer. "Sure have! My whole life."

Sasuke steps forward with a smirk. "That's not the only thing he can do." Getting the hint, I wink at him and start to circle the three comically shocked adults quickly before stopping where I began.

"That's a lot of youthful ENERGY!" Guy bellows. Wincing, I flatten my ears to try to decrease the damage. I thought it wasn't possible, but this guy is _louder_ than Lee.

Kakashi sweat drops. "Guy, Sonic doesn't really like loud shouting."

"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH…oh." He quiets down after the words sink in. "Sorry there Sonic."

I sigh in relief and wave him off. "It's fine. You didn't know."

He grabs said hand and I look at him strangely. Why is he holding my hand? "No! It is not alright my young friend!" He then pulls me in for a bone crushing hug. I try with all my strength to push away to escape, but don't budge an inch. There is one last option left, and I feel bad. But hey, I don't want to die by lack of oxygen.

Bristling my quills, Guy is quick to pull away with a small yelp. I relax the hairs and see Guy examining his arms, small cuts everywhere. He touches one and winces. Turning towards me, he gives the brightest smile I have ever seen. "I'm used to this kind of pain! Nothing but a minor annoyance!"

That…wasn't the reaction I was expecting.

"Sensei?" Tenten speaks up. "Maybe Sakura should check those-"

She is cut off. "YOU ARE SO YOUTHFUL SENSEI!"

Well, Lee's silence didn't last long. I take a couple steps back to keep from going deaf.

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

They're hugging each other while tears start to flow down their faces. Wait. Is…is that a sunset behind them?

"Um, y'all see the sunset too, right?" I mumble to the others.

Neji nods. "I don't know how, but it happens every time."

My eyes widen and I turn back to the green twins. "How often does this happen?"

"Too much…" Tenten mutters.

I'm about to comment again when they let go and Guy clasps his hands together. "Alright my students! Let's go do some target practice!" He then jogs to the side of the field where there are targets set up with Lee on his tail. Neji and Tenten sigh and follow them soon after.

"Shikamaru, Ino, Choji." Asuma calls around his newly lighted cigarette. "Let's go practice our ninjutsu." Ninjutsu? Is it the same as taijutsu? I voice my thoughts and Asuma answers. "Ninjutsu is when a ninja uses chakra to form multiple attacks. One example is Shikamaru's shadow. It-"

I raise a hand and he pauses. "No need to explain, I know all about his shadow." Asuma raises an eyebrow at Shikamaru. The genin in question sighs.

"I'll explain later…"

"You never want to do anything, Shikamaru! If you were alone, you would be staring at clouds all day!" Ino complains.

Shikamaru smirks a little. "Can't deny that fact." Ino looks like she's about to explode until Choji cuts in.

"Come on guys! We have to get some training in today!"

Asuma nods. "I agree completely." He walks away, his charges following.

Kurenai shakes her head and turns to her students. "We are going in the forest to fine tune your tracking skills." Why am I not surprised? Hinata has her eyes, Kiba has Akamaru, and Shino has his mysterious bugs.

"Awesome!" Kiba places an excited Akamaru on the ground. "It's about time! I've been getting antsy!"

Kurenai gives a soft smile and jumps into the trees. "Come on!" She yells. Shino, Hinata, Kiba, and Akamaru race into the trees, disappearing from sight.

After they leave, Naruto turns to Kakashi. "What are we going to do sensei?"

Kakashi thinks for a second before glancing at me. He nods to himself. "Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, y'all go to the center of the clearing and spar. Naruto and Sakura are first, the winner of the two faces Sasuke. Make sure you don't interfere with the other teams."

Naruto pumps his fist. "Yeah! Watch out Sakura because you are going to lose! OWW! What was that for?"

Sakura rubs her hand. "Because you shouldn't be so cocky! Plus, don't think you'll win so easily…" I block out their conversation when Sasuke steps up to me, messaging his temples.

"One day. Can't I get one day of peace?"

"You'll get it eventually, hopefully!" I try to reassure him. He just shakes his head and turns to Kakashi.

"If we are going to spar, what are you going to do?" Kakashi puts away his book.

"I'm going to teach Sonic some chakra control just in case he needs it."

Sasuke glances at me skeptically and looks back at the jonin. "How do you even know he can? He isn't even from here."

Kakashi smiles. "We won't know unless we try, right?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes and starts to walk over to the middle where Naruto and Sakura are busy glaring at each other. "Good luck." He calls back, waving a hand over his shoulder. I turn around to see Kakashi deep in thought again.

I poke him, no reaction.

I elbow him in his side, no reaction.

"Kakashi." Still no.

"KAKASHI!" Nada.

I huff and cross my arms. What will snap him out of it? A light bulb goes off and I smile evilly. Eyeing his front pocket, I reach out in an attempt to take his precious book.

Before I even get close enough, he grabs my wrist. I glance up and cringe at his blank stare. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Then he smiles. "I was just thinking of ways for you to gain some chakra control." Kakashi lets go and I rub my wrist. Did he have to grip so damn hard?

"Ok. So, what's the first way?" He looks around and gestures me to follow him. I do so until we are at the edge of the clearing at the large tree I have used to my advantage so many times.

He examines it for a few seconds only to walk up to it and make his way to the top using his feet, no hands. At the top, he yells down. "I want you to make your way up here just like I did."

I deadpan. Was that it? I do this all the time at home! Hopefully this isn't the only thing he had planned to do out here.

Shrugging, I face the tree. "Alright." After positioning myself, I sprint up the tree to the branch beside Kakashi's. He looks at me surprised. "I do this all the time. A little speed and gravity decides to take a break for a while."

Kakashi scrunches his eyebrows. "I completely forgot about that." He mutters, then perks up. "I think it's time for part two, then." He jumps down off the branch, and I follow him to the ground.

We start to walk and we pass by Naruto and Sakura still duking it out, with Sasuke watching with an aura of boredom radiating off him. He glances up over in my direction and nods. I give him a playful salute back.

My eyes shift to see Tenten make multiple bull's eyes on moving targets with her kunais. I wonder who will win in a fight: Tenten or Espio? Ooo, that's a tough one.

Finally, I look in front to see where Kakashi is leading me. It takes a second before my muscles tense and all blood drains from my face. Why, of all places, here?

"Here we are." Kakashi stops in front of the deathtrap in front of him. He takes a few steps forwards and instead of sinking like a regular person, he walks right on the surface of the water. "You are going to learn how to do this. But first, I want you to try and walk without me helping you. Just gather chakra into your feet. It's similar to when you tried to sense the energy in the emerald. So go ahead."

My brain stops functioning. He wants me to do what?! I'm standing about three meters away from the water's edge and do not plan on getting _any_ closer. Kakashi is just gonna have to deal.

He's standing on the water reading his book, but I can tell he is watching me in his peripherals. I continue to stare at the water, nervously shuffling my feet. We just stand there for I don't know how long until Kakashi sighs and closes his book.

"You know…You can't learn anything if you don't even get close to the water."

I choose to ignore him and not even think how I would sink like a rock in that water. Looking down at the ground, I spot a flower. Aww, that's a cute little yellow dandelion. Oh! And there's another one…

"Sonic." Folding my ears back, I look back up to Kakashi. "Is there something wrong?"

I hold my hands out. "No! I mean, nope, there isn't anything wrong here!" I swear my voice went up an octave without my consent. "Everything's fine!"

Kakashi raised his eyebrow at my reaction. "Really now?" I break out in a cold sweat as he stares at me. He then starts to chuckle. "So that's it." Oh hell…I have to fix this!

"Nothing's 'it'! I'm fine! Nothing is wrong, just dandy!"

"Hmm, then you wouldn't mind if I did this…" Kakashi moves right beside me in an instant and before I can do anything, he squats and takes hold of my ankles. He pulls up and I fall flat on my face.

"Owwww." I whine spitting out dirt.

Kakashi chuckles. "If you would've listened to me before, I wouldn't have to do this." He then lifts me all the way off the ground so I'm hanging upside down in front of him. "Now, I'm going to carry you to the water so you can do what I asked you to do." I stiffen at his words. Oh _hell _no!

"Listen, Kakashi. I can't do this right now because…of…of…cramps! Yeah! I ate not too long ago and I might get cramps in the water!" He ignores me and takes a step forward towards the pond. I start panicking and try to think of something to get out of this situation. "I will do anything, and I mean _anything_ else, but not this, please!"

Kakashi stops to think about what I said and I hold my breath. "Hmmm, nope. You're doing this." He continues on and we are about two feet away from the edge. Starting to shake, my brain switches to overdrive. I have to get out of this NOW! Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I punch Kakashi hard in the stomach; he doesn't let me go, but he doubles over and I dig my nails (kinda glad my gloves are gone now) into the dirt, which is moist. Using my upper body strength, I crawl away, pulling a distracted Kakashi with me.

He recovers and pulls me back. When he keeps tugging, I feel myself slipping. No! This can't happen! With new found strength, I dig my nails deeper and try to get away with all my might.

I make it another couple of feet until Kakashi starts to pull harder. Now we are at a stalemate and I try one last tactic. With a grunt, I dig my fingers into the damp ground, feeling the dirt get under my nails, and praying that I don't get any closer to the water. But Kakashi is a persistent man because he doesn't give up.

"Sonic. This will-" Tug. "help you in the long run." More tugging. "It's just water!" Just water? I beg to differ! Its' death!

Kakashi sighs at the lack of response, verbal or otherwise.

"Alright, you asked for this…" He tightens his grip and pull even harder than before. My hands start to slide and the nails leave claw marks in the dirt.

"Kakashi!" My heart's pumping like it's running a marathon. "Dammit, you don't' have to do this!"

"Stop being stubborn. You're making a scene."

Glancing around, everyone is looking at us and relax some because Kakashi takes a break from pulling. Kurenai's team careens out of the foliage, hearing my…uh…pleads for mercy.

"What's going on? It sounds like someone's getting murdered out here!"

Kakashi shakes his head. "No one getting murdered here." He then tilts he head in my direction, not risking letting go of an ankle. "I'm just trying to get Sonic in the water for some chakra training."

"R-Really?" Hinata questions, stepping closer. "Can I w-watch?" Whoa, wait. I don't want anyone seeing this!

"Wait, Hinata. We only came back to check on things." Kurenai says.

"B-But-"

"Can't we just have a little break? Please sensei?" Kiba pleads. Kurenai stares at Kiba, then sighs in defeat.

"Fine, but only for a while." Kiba lets out a woop as Hinata and Shino get closer, to my displeasure.

Naruto walks up too, worn out from his spar with Sakura. "Yeah! I break sounds great right now! I gotta rest up so I can beat Sasuke!" Sasuke scoffs beside Naruto and Sakura rolls her eyes. "And I _will_ beat you! Plus, watching Sonic will be entertaining."

"I agree with Naruto. We do deserve a break." Neji agrees and everyone seems to be thinking the same thing as they crowd around. Kurenai, Guy, and Asuma join as well, the last two having told their team they can have their breaks also.

"Wait. Why are you holding him like that sensei?" Sakura cocks her head in confusion.

Kakashi shifts his hands and I try to yank my legs out of his grasp, no luck. "To get Sonic in the water, apparently I have to drag him there."

Choji chuckles. "Seriously? Are scared of water Sonic?"

"I am not!" Again, my voice is higher than it's supposed to be. Kakashi starts back dragging my body. Just great. "Kakashi, can't we do something else?"

"No, once you get the hang of walking on water, we will then stop."

My muscles tremble from the strain and I look puppy eyed at the genin for help. They stare at me, turn to each other, and laugh.

"Who knew the speed demon is afraid of water?" Shikamaru says smirking.

"I can't believe it either!" Tenten wipes away a tear.

"Some friends y'all are…" I mutter under my breath only to hear Kakashi's foot splash into the water. Shocked, I glance backwards to see the water _right there._ What can I do? Kakashi wants me to walk on the surface of the water, but I know I…can't…or can I?

"Stop! Stop! I'll do it, ok?" Kakashi pauses, but doesn't let me go. "I don't go back on my word, most of the time." I mutter the last part. The many promised 'dates' with Amy come to mind.

He eyes me cautiously. "You won't try to run away?" He drops my feet and I quickly stand up.

Taking a deep breath, I answer him. "No, I won't."

"Woo! Good show of bravery Sonic!" Lee gives a thumbs up and his smile glints in the light.

I look with a shudder at the opposing body of water. My plan has to work. I can run fast enough to run on top of water, right? The other side isn't that far away. I can do this! After nodding at Kakashi, he moves back onto the top of the pond.

"Don't worry, I'll pull you out when you try." He eye smiles. Kakashi doesn't think I can do it on my first try, well he's about to be proven wrong! …hopefully.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sonic: (sighs) Here it comes…**

**Sasuke: So all I have to do is spray you with water, and you'll shake with fear. It's a shame.**

**Sonic: And there it goes. It's not with just any water! Just bodies of water and I was not **_**shaking **_**with fear!**

**Sasuke: My bad. It was more like trembling like a leaf.**

**Sonic: Not that either! I was-**

**Sasuke: Screaming like a little girl?**

**Sonic: Well…at least my hair isn't shaped like a duck butt!**

**Sasuke: That was bad.**

**Sonic: I know…**

**Konoha**

I smirk at Kakashi and he raises an eyebrow. He'll know soon enough. After positioning myself, I run full speed to the other side of the pond on top of the water, thanking my lucky stars.

I don't dare to stop until my feet land on solid ground. Doing a happy dance in my head, I turn around to see the others drenched in the rain my run created. To the right, Kakashi gets knocked over because of the waves produced and I laugh hysterically. Still chuckling, I go around the edge of the pond to meet with them.

"It's not funny, Sonic! My hair is soaked!" Ino whines.

"And my clothes are sagging…" Sakura complains.

My laughter dies down a bit. "Do you want me to fix that?"

"Yes." Kakashi is now with the others, wet as well. "We kinda do."

I grin.

"Oh no. I don't like that look." Naruto mumbles.

"Me neither." Kiba agrees.

They want to be dry right? I hope they're ready for hurricane winds! Speeding around them in circles, harsh and fast winds push them around inside. Going for a couple more seconds, I finally stop, eyeing the result. They all are trying to keep their balance, and their hair is sticking up in all directions.

At least they aren't wet anymore.

"SONIC!" They roar.

I snicker. "Y'all wanted to get dry, so there you go."

Kurenai sighs. "We did…"

"But that didn't mean to unleash fifty miles per hour winds on us!" Kiba shouts. Shrugging, I yawn and stretch.

"I guess all that…_training_ left me tired. I could really go for a nap right now."

"How can you be so lazy?" Neji asks. "It's like you can be anywhere from 0 miles per hour to Mach 2."

"Eh, most of the time I'm on the move. Hero, remember? So I get rest as much as I can." I smile and turn to Guy when he claps his hands.

"Alright my students! Break is over, time to get back to work!" I'm so happy that I don't have anyone telling me what to do at home, but the genin must be used to it as Guy's team nods and start walking back to where they were before I made a scene.

"Yeah, y'all go do that while-" I sprint up the closest tree and lay on the biggest and strongest branch, arms behind my head. "I just take a nap up here." Shikamaru lazily smiles up at me.

Kakashi eye smiles at me also. "Ok, Sonic you do that. I guess we will wake you up when we are all done here." Giving him a thumbs up, he turns to his team of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. "Let's go to the center and start where you all left off, hmm?"

"Right!" They all say and move back to the middle of the field, Kakashi following slowly, reading his book again. I just shake my head at that. When does he _actually_ pay attention to his students?

When they get there, Kakashi and Sakura stand to the side as Naruto and Sasuke face each other, sizing the other up. The jonin barely says begin before the two are going at it. Punching, kicking, and what was it? Oh, ninjutsu. They are doing all of that, not holding back from what I can see. Those two are rivals alright.

I shift my attention to the other groups. Did I mention this tree gives me a wonderful view of the whole field? Not spotting Kurenai and her team, they must've gone back into the forest while I wasn't watching. Asuma's team are over on the other side of the clearing, Shikamaru and Ino practicing their techniques against each other. Choji is practicing his with a moving Asuma.

Tenten, Neji, and Lee have changed what they were doing and now are punching and kicking trees, improving their taijutsu. Guy is cheering them on, very…_enthusiastically_. Jumping around all over the place.

Turing from them, I face the sky and watch the clouds pass by, in different shapes and sizes. That one looks like a bunny, that one a fish, that one a butterfly, that one a…

That's how I fell asleep.

"-nic!"

No… just give me five more minutes…Yes! More chilidogs please…

"_Sonic_!" My eyes shoot open.

"Huh? Wha-" I'm disorientated to where I am and try to roll over to on my stomach so I can look for the source of the voice better.

Wrong move.

My stomach drops as I plummet I don't know how many feet to the ground below. Head first. I groan into the dirt and peel my face from the floor, wiping the grass and dirt from my face. Standing up, I wipe the grains from my body. I look up to see everyone, including the jonin, about to burst from holding in their mirth.

I sigh and put my hand on my hip. "Just let it out." The field is now filled with guffaws and laughter. All of them because of my spectacular fall. That one of them caused, by the way. They calm down and someone lands on the ground behind me. Turning, I see Naruto grinning at me. My eyes widen and I point at him. "You did that on purpose!"

His grin gets wider. "Nope. Just trying to wake you up, is all." Let me tell you why that is bullshit.

"No, you meant-"

"Now now, Sonic. Before you attack him, I have great news for you." I whirl around to Kakashi, forgetting about Naruto. Short attention span? Oh yes. "It's late afternoon and we are going to eat out for dinner today." I deflate. So I'm gonna be alone in the house?

Sakura then comes over and points at my nose. "I think what he's saying that we _all_ are going, including you!" Shocked, I look around her to Kakashi and he is nodding his head yes.

"Wait." Naruto interrupts. "I'm not raining on your parade, Sonic, but didn't the old hag say that he couldn't go into the village?

Kakashi waves his hand dismissively. "That's why after we eat, we'll go visit her in the tower."

Naruto shrugs. "Sounds like a plan."

"But, what will the other people say?" I ask, curious on how I will be received.

"The civilians will be surprised, sure." Sasuke answers. "However, the ninja are used to talking animals, but you would be the most unique yet. With your ability and all." So, this will be like arriving at Station Square for the first time all over again. I smile; I'm so pumped!

"Where will we be eating, Kakashi?" Asuma asks, lighting a cigarette.

"Well, I've heard about a new restaurant near the academy that just opened up. We could go there."

"Does it have ramen?"

Kakashi chuckles. "Yes, Naruto. They have ramen."

"Yes! Then let's go!" Naruto is about to run off, but Kiba snatches his jacket.

"Dude calm down! I'm pretty sure the food isn't going anywhere." Naruto shakes off the hand and pouts.

"Fine. But can we at least start to walk?"

With that, everyone begins to move out of the clearing. I catch up to Sasuke just when he smacks Naruto over the head. "Dobe."

"Teme!" I snicker as Naruto glares at Sasuke, then runs up to Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji.

"So, what's Konoha like?" Looking at Sasuke curiously, the genin just shrugs.

"There's a lot of merchants and shops. Apartment complexes and houses are everywhere, with the hokage tower looking over them. Also, as Kakashi said, we have a ninja academy for children who want to be one."

"Really? Can't wait to see to get there!" I say giddily.

We are now passing Sasuke's house and going in a direction I've never went in before now. The trees thin out as we keep walking. Now I see buildings and hear chatter of the residents in the village. The sounds get louder and Ino falls back until she's next to me.

"You ready?" We step out on a busy street and she holds her hands out wide. "Welcome to Konoha!"

I look around in awe at everyone. There are people with their kids, some are at the shops that I can see, and there are people with headbands around their heads like the ninja I know. Every once and awhile, a blur passes by and I get a glimpse of an animal mask covering their face. What's up with that?

Saving that observation for later, I hurry and catch up with the others who had walked of while I was soaking in the visuals. As we make our way through the crowd, I see girls with hearts in their eyes checking out Sasuke. I nudge him with my elbow and he glances at me, brow raised.

"A real ladies man, huh?" He rolls his eyes.

"I just ignore them. They've been like that for as long as I can remember; they actually get violent." He shudders. I dismiss his statement; he's exaggerating, I'm sure.

Another thing I notice is that the parents and older ninja look at Naruto with disgust. The former puts as much space as they can between them and the blonde, dragging their children with them. Naruto doesn't seem to notice, busy talking with Kiba, but if I look closely, I can see the darkening of his bright blue eyes every time it happens. When I'm about to ask him the reason for this, I hear one of Sasuke's fangirls squeal.

"OMG! What is that cute little thing?!" I turn to see a brunette pointing at me. Glancing behind me, the others stop and turn around. Seeing the hold up, Kiba puts his face in his hands.

"Here we go."

More people look at the girl because to her outburst, then at me. I smile nervously and wave. "Hey there!" The surrounding people's eyes widen, and the girl from before runs up to me.

"You can talk! How cute is that!" She then proceeds to hug me and I have a feeling of déja vu, not from Guy, but from a pink haired hedgehog at home.

"C-Can't b-b-breathe." I manage to sputter out and the girl lets go, sheepishly apologizing.

"Sorry about that!"

"It's ok. I'm used to it anyway." Another girl, the first one's friend, comes up to stand next to her, in front of me.

"What's your name? You do have one, right?"

I give her a thumbs up and wink. "It's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!" There is a large crowd around me now and all the pre-adolescent girls in it swoon.

"Ah! He is so adorable!"

"I have to have him!"

"No! He's gonna be mine!"

The brunette grabs my wrist and pulls me closer to her. "It's finders keepers! He's _mine!_" The other girls start to pull on me as well and I gulp. Sasuke was right about what he said. These females are _ruthless!_

I then feel a strong hand grip my quills, and get lifted off the ground away from the rabid fangirls, then drpped on the roof of a shop close by. When I land, the hand lets go and I rub at my sore head.

Glancing up, I see Shikamaru with his hands in his pockets. "Did you have to hold on so tight?" He just shrugs. "And what is the matter with them?!" I ask pointing down at the girls still arguing.

"They're just troublesome. When they want something, they won't give it up."

Tenten then speaks up. It seems like everyone hopped on the roof. "Now everyone in the village will know who you are in about five minutes." That fast? Those girls can get around.

"Now that we know that Sonic won't be safe in the village by himself ever, can we continue on to the restaurant?" Kiba pleads and Akamaru whines.

I stand up and Shikamaru answers. "We will have to go by roof now." He eyes me. "Think you can do it?" I just stare at him. Who does he think he's talking to? Shikamaru finally gets it. "Right, forgot for a sec."

Chuckling, I grin. "Then let's go!" With that, the ninja start running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. I easily keep pace with them, following their path to whatever part of the village we are going to. I look around and see that the village might be a bit bigger than Station Square, but there is something different. Where are all the cars and technology? Did I go back in time too? Or is this just the way they live?

I speed up a little to catch up to Sasuke. "Hey, where are all the cars and stuff?"

He looks at me with an almost visible question mark over his head. "What's a car?" Well, that answers my question.

Shaking my head, I answer. "Don't worry about it." He eyes me for a second more before shifting his eyes up front, focusing on not falling. I do so also.

A few minutes later, Naruto, who is right in front of me, stops and I have to skid to a halt if I didn't want to tackle him. He looks down to the left and I follow his gaze to a large school building.

"What's that?" I ask him.

"It's the academy and look! There's Iruka sensei!" With his shout, the others stop and turn around.

"What is it now?" Neji asks with obvious irritation in his voice.

"Iruka sensei is leaving the academy." The blue eyed blonde states, then turns to Kakashi. "Can we ask him to come too?"

Said man just shrugs. "The more the merrier." They hop down by the man called Iruka, and I follow them.

Iruka jumps and almost drops his papers when he sees us in front of him. He then smiles warmly. "Hi! What are you all up to?"

Naruto rocks back and forth on his feet. "We were going to grab something to eat, but then I saw you. We want you to come eat with us, Iruka sensei!"

Iruka thinks for a moment, then smiles. "Sure! I'll eat with all of you. And remember I'm not your teacher anym-who is that?" He finishes, pointing at me. I'm about to introduce myself, but Ino beats me to it.

"Him? That's Sonic. I'm surprised that you haven't heard of him yet."

Iruka looks at Ino in confusion. "Why would I know who he is if I just met him?"

"That's because I probably have a horde of fangirls searching for me right now." Iruka's eyes widen at my voice, then he regains his composure with a small smile.

"I guess you're right. Must've been because I was cooped up in the academy until just now." Iruka drops his papers in the recycling bin and dusts off his hands. He then pauses when he sees my shoes. He slowly turns to a nervous looking Sasuke. "They were for Naruto, huh?"

"Well…" Sasuke clears his throat. "I didn't know if the hokage wanted the public to know about him, so…"

"I'll accept that excuse, this time. Now, should we be off?"

We start heading towards the restaurant again, taking the streets instead of the rooftops because it is less crowded in this part of the village. I examine Iruka. He was mostly likely the genins' teacher when they were still in school. He seems like a cool guy.

"Hey Iruka." He glances at me and drifts closer. I gesture to the genin walking ahead. "What's your history with them? Were you their teacher or something?" Iruka softly smiles.

"Yes. I used to teach all of them when they were in the academy. They are mostly the same as they were then, expect Naruto now knows the time to be serious and Sasuke isn't as moody and distant."

I snicker at that. "Sasuke? Moody? Never."

Iruka just shakes his head and chuckles. "Once he was around everyone though, he started to mellow out. They were all in the same class, except Guy's team."

"Really?" I ask, seeing Naruto and Kiba joking around with Lee, Neji having a silent glaring contest with Sasuke, and Tenten hanging with the other girls. "Then how did everyone meet?"

"Long story short, they all had to participate in multiple tests to increase their rank to chunin, the next level of ninja, to put it in simple terms. The exams were a written test, survival in a forest, and one-on-one sparing. The third one is when I think they really got to know each other."

"By battling? That doesn't really surprise me. I think I met half of my friends in some sort of battle." I pause. If they took the test, why are they all still genin? I voice my question and Iruka's smile falls a bit.

"That's because they never got to finish. You see, an invasion here interrupted the exam and we all had to fight off the opposing forces. There were some casualties, but the worst was our third hokage, Sarutobi. Killed by the leader of the invasion, Orochimaru." Oh man, that must've been hard. I haven't really had any of my friends _die _before, Shadow not counting. "That's why Tsunade is our fifth now, she stepped up after him."

Wait. I'm completely sure four comes between three and five. "What happened to the fourth?" Iruka's smile is completely gone now and his eyes darken.

"That's another story for another time." I don't miss the hint and drop the subject.

We continue to talk about the genin and about the village itself until we arrive at the restaurant.

"Konoha's Finest, huh?" Naruto says examining the huge building. "How come none of us have known about this!?"

Kakashi shrugs. "Don't know, it has been a work in progress for about a month. I guess you all were too oblivious to notice." A tick forms on Sakura's forehead, but before she could do anything, Guy pulls Kakashi inside the building.

"Come on my young rival! Let us grab a table before they're all gone!" And like that they are gone inside and Sakura just stares blankly at the spot Kakashi once occupied. The left over jonin and one chunin (Iruka told me his rank) look at each other and sigh.

"Let's go save Kakashi…" Iruka suggests.

"Agreed." Asuma speaks up and gestures us to follow him inside.

Walking inside, not going to lie to you, I thought it would be some spectacular, very eye pleasing restaurant. However, once inside, I see that it's just a big Chinese joint I go to occasionally at home. Eh, hopefully the food's good.

We stand in the doorway until Guy stands up from all the way across the room, waves, and shouts, "Hey! Over here!" The other customers and some staff wince at his loud voice, then continue to eat or serve.

Walking over and passing some of the seated people, I hear whispers.

"Hey! Isn't that the new guy everyone's talking about?"

"Yeah! His name starts with an S! Uh, Sam? Steve?"

"It's Sonic you dunce! How could you not know with all those girls running around searching for him?"

I shudder and tune out of their conversation. Hell, this village might be more dangerous than any of Eggman's labs!

When we reach the large table, I sit down between Hinata and Shikamaru, with Sasuke across from me.

"Get whatever you like. The grown-ups are paying." Kakashi says with an eye smile. Kurenai's eyes widen.

"What?! I never agreed to help pay. _This_ was your idea, not ours."

Kakashi waves a dismissive hand. "Maa, it's not like you don't have enough leftover money from missions." She just sputters then leans back in her chair, defeated, and picks up a menu.

I open mine also and scan the pages to look for a dish that I've heard of before. Seeing nothing, I place it back on the table and look over Shikamaru's sleeping body to Kakashi. He catches my gaze and raises an eyebrow in question.

"What do you recommend here?"

Kakashi rubs his chin. "I can't really say, this is my first time here also. But I've heard that other ninjas like the chicken here. It's not in the menu?" He searches for it. "Hm, guess not. Just ask our server later." I nod, then lean back in my chair. Then our waitress approaches the table; she looks about seventeen.

"Hi! I'll be your server for today. The name's Naomi! What can I get for ya?" Everyone tells her what they want and it takes about five minutes before she gets to me. "What about y-" She pauses and points her pen at me. "Hey! You're who the girls all over the village has been talking about lately! It's Sonic, right?" I nod and hear Tenten whisper to Sakura.

"Told you everyone would recognize him." Sakura giggles in her hands.

The waitress eyes me for a second, then grins. "And I can't say I disagree to what the girls have been saying out there." I feel the blush crawling up my cheeks and the grin widens. "Well-" She positions her pen on her paper. "What will it be cutie?" Come on Sonic! Get your act together! I mentally pat myself on my back when I fight the pink flush down.

"Uh, do you have any chicken? It isn't on the menu." Naomi thinks for a second, then snaps.

"We sure do! Is teriyaki ok?"

"Sure."

"Alright." She writes down the order down then, with me being the last one, puts the pen behind her ear. "I'll get these in as soon as possible! Be back in about fifteen!" Naomi leaves, but not before winking and waving at me. The blush makes its embarrassing return.

Shikamaru, having woken up to take his order, nudges me with his elbow. "Looks like Sasuke has some competition, but it seems that your club has spread to the more mature fans." This time the blush doesn't go away.

Sasuke just shrugs. "I don't care, you can have them. They get on my nerves."

"What's wrong, Sonic? Aren't you supposed to be used to this kind of attention?" Kiba chuckles. The blush goes away, hopefully for a while. I scratch my nose.

"Not really. The people at home sees me as a hero; they look at me in admiration. Nothing like this. Well, except my friend Amy. She tries to go on dates with me almost every day. I nicely shut her down, but man she's persistent!" Damn right _obsessive_.

"Why won't you just go out with her?"

"She's eleven." I stare blankly at Neji and his eyes widen.

"Right. I see your point."

"Speaking of your life in your world." Choji leans forwards on the table. "What does your village uh… it's named Station Square right?" I nod in confirmation. "What does Station Square look like? What's in it?"

How do I say that the city is more advanced than this village without sounding rude? Eh, let's hope for the best.

"Well, there are some similarities like electricity, apartments, shops, and I'm sure there is a school somewhere in there."

"So it's the same here, just without the ninjas?" Naruto asks.

"Not really. That's where the similarities end. We have cars, planes, helicopters, more technology from what I can tell, and way better weaponry. Also, it's called a city, not a village." When I finish, I notice that everyone is staring at me in various stages of awe.

"Such a YOUTHFUL place! But can you explain all the stuff you just said?" Lee's eyes are shining with poorly restrained curiosity. I can tell the others are burning with the same feeling as Lee.

"Alright. A car is a...I guess a box made out of metal with wheels that can travel many speeds. A plane and a helicopter are really similar: they both fly. A helicopter just doesn't have wings like a plane does. Some of the technology comes in with the weaponry." Tenten seems the most excited for this part. "We have guns. They fire bullets, hard metal projectiles, at high speed."

"Wow…" Kiba mutters. "That place sounds amazing!"

"That's an understatement." Kakashi comments, I guess digesting the information given to him.

"Those guns sound dangerous. You don't have one, do you?" The guns sound _dangerous_? How can Ino even say that when there are fire breathers, clones, and even throwing knives here?

"Food's here!" Naomi arrives with another boy with our food. "This is Satoshi. He's here training now." She turns to said boy. "You give those plates to that side of the table." She points to my side. "They should be positioned in order, so hop to it!"

Satoshi rolls his eyes. "I'm not _that _new." He comes over to the side with team eight, team seven, Iruka, and me. He puts the plates down and his eyes widen when he sets my food in front of me. "Huh, I guess you were right Naomi!" He calls and Naomi on the other side smirks.

"Told you so!"

Satoshi turns back to me. "You've become mister popularity in the village." He grins then puts his hand up by his mouth, getting closer. "If I were you, I wouldn't walk these streets alone. You never know when a horde of rabid fangirls will show up." He stands back up and I glance up at him, amused.

"You're kidding, right?" Satoshi shakes his head.

"Wish I was joking. I've seen some stuff happen, including to that black haired friend of yours." He chuckles, gesturing to Sasuke. "He ran for his _life_."

"Satoshi! Let's go! We don't just have one table, you know!"

The teen in question cringes. "Well, I gotta go if I don't want to get yelled at later. See ya around." He leaves with Naomi and I turn to Sasuke with a grin.

"Ran for your life, huh?"

Sasuke just glares, says nothing, and starts to eat the onigiri that he ordered. Those things just look like rice balls! Why couldn't the menu just _say_ that?

Picking up my fork, I taste the chicken and taste the flavor bursting in my mouth. "This is delicious! Definitely better here than at home!" The others just roll their eyes and dig into their own meals. I'm about to take another bite, but freeze when I glance out the window behind Shino, at the end of the table.

The sun's almost gone.

Panicking, I stand up quickly and turn to Kakashi. "Do you know where the bathroom is?"

He stops eating, surprised. "It's over by past the entrance. Are you alright?"

I wave him off and laugh nervously. "Yeah, I'm fine." Right now, but not in a few moments.

"Alright." I then sprint, very quickly I might add, to the bathroom. I make sure it's the right one before crashing through the door and hurry into the first open stall I see. I enter and lock the door behind me. A second barely passes by when the pain starts.

Dropping down to the floor, I curl up to try to ease the jerks and spasms my muscles are making. It doesn't work. My nails and teeth grow and the bones crack and heal together again. Thirty seconds pass before I can even think about getting off the floor.

Very shakily, and with the help of the stall door, I stand up. I just stay there until I catch my breath and then open the stall. At the sink, I splash some water on my face. "Here we go again…" The bathroom door opens and I turn to see who it is.

Said person closes the door behind him and focuses on me. He takes a step back and gulps. "S-Sonic? Is that you?" Satoshi hesitantly asks.

I just sigh. "Yeah, it's me." A grin makes its way across my face. "Dude, I'm not gonna hurt you."

Satoshi visibly relaxes and chuckles. "Sorry man, just surprised me there. So, what happened to you?"

"It's just a form I have. Nothing new." He nods and I move past him, arms crossed.

"Heh, maybe that'll keep the girls off ya." I chuckle.

"Maybe it will." Leaving the bathroom and Satoshi behind, I make my way back to my table.

Passing people, I hear gasps and surprised voices. Already predicting these reactions, I just ignore them and keep walking.

When I arrive at the table, Kurenai sees me first. "Wh-what happened to you?"

Kakashi eyes her quizzically before focusing on me. "Ah. That's why you wanted to go the bathroom."

"Kakashi, you know about this?" Asuma asks as I sit back down at the table.

"Yeah." Kakashi answers. "He's harmless, most of the time."

"Seriously, I'm still me, just with a different appearance." I reassure Asuma and Kurenai.

"If you say so…" Not Iruka too!

"I like the change! It shows the flames of youth!" At least Guy doesn't mind. I think that's what he means by that.

"Thanks, I guess. I just want to figure out a way to stop transforming, it's so troublesome." I smirk when Shikamaru glares at me because of stealing his catch phrase.

"Don't worry! We'll find a way!" Naruto says around a mouth full of ramen. I smile and nod at him. Turning back to my food, I realized that it seems _much_ more appetizing than it was before leaving for the bathroom. Forgetting the fork, I dig into the chicken with my hands and finish the dish in record time. I lean back and pat my stomach.

"Man, you sure can eat." Kiba mutters. I pick my teeth with my nails.

"Heh, that's a trait no matter which form I'm in, from werehog to super."

"Wait. Super?" Neji pauses eating. "You have other forms?"

I put my elbows on the table and lean on my oversized hands. "Yeah. I haven't brought them up before because I can't change to any here, or I thought I couldn't."

"What other forms so you have?" He places his fork down altogether.

I give him wolfish smile. "You really want to know, don't you?"

"Yes, and I'm sure everyone else would like to also." There are affirmatives around the table.

"Guess it's Sonic's story time today. Alright, I'll enlighten you. I have seven, not including my regular form. They are the form I'm in now, Super, Hyper, Dark, Darkspine, Excalibur, and Fleetway. Super, Hyper, and Excalibur are my good forms. In Super and Hyper form I can fly and go even faster than I do now, also I turn golden and multicolor respectively. My Excalibur form is when I get a full coat of armor and a sword to fight with."

"You can fly and get a whole coat of armor? Incredible…" Shikamaru mutters.

"I'm not done yet. Now the others I dub my 'not so friendly' forms, I guess this one can fall under that sometimes. My Dark form is when I turn a really dark blue color and get powers like Super, but that only happens when I get seriously, I mean really angry. Darkspine is when I turn purple with white stripes with no pupils. Fleetway is when I look like Super, golden, but have swirls for eyes and go crazy."

"Soooo...You're half good and have bad." Naruto says obtusely.

"No." I growl. "I barely turn into any of those forms except Super when I need the extra power and speed. I am not evil."

Naruto holds his hands up. "Sorry dude, just trying to understand what you were saying."

"Can you even turn into those here?" Sasuke asks, finished with his food.

I shake my head in a negative. "Nah, I doubt that I can even transform into Darkspine and Excalibur again, and I need the rest of the emeralds to transform into the others. With Dark, I doubt I'll get that angry here."

"There are more emeralds? Tsunade would go ballistic over this!" Ino says.

"Yeah! She-" Sakura gets interrupted by three masked people who just have appeared by the table.

The heads seem to search the table, looking at everyone. When they get to me, they pause for a second, before ending their search of the table looking at Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai.

"Asuma, Guy, and Kurenai." One of the masked strangers begins. "Lord Hokage requests you three for a mission. She will explain more in the tower."

"ALRIGHT!" Guy jumps up and all three of them hand Kakashi some money to help pay for the dinner. Kakashi counts it, then nods. All six of the ninja disappear in a swirl of leaves, which doesn't make sense because it's indoors, but whatever.

"So, what just happened?"

"Sometimes, ninja will fetch other ninja the hokage wants to take missions." Shino answers.

"A-And it depends o-on the mission h-how l-long they are gone." Hinata adds softly.

I nod, getting the concept. Naomi then arrives with the ticket. "Here you go! I hope y'all come again!" She turns to me. "Especially…you…Um, what happened?

Sighing, I shake my head. "Nothing really important." She eyes me warily.

"Alright…" Kakashi then hands her back the ticket with the right amount of money and a generous tip. Naomi gives a sincere smile. "Thanks! Ask for me next time you come!" She waves and goes to help other tables.

"Now that we ate, we have to go see Tsunade in the tower. I'm sure she has heard of you in the village, Sonic." Kakashi smiles at me.

I scoff while standing up. "Wouldn't doubt it."

"While you all go talk to her, I'm going home so I can get some rest and get up early to get to the academy." Iruka says as we all leave the restaurant.

"Ok, bye Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouts at a leaving Iruka.

"See ya later, Iruka." He waves back at me and Naruto, then turns a corner I guess towards his home. We all walk the streets heading to the tower that has been mentioned so many times.

"Oh man, I'm so full! I can barely walk!" Choji complains and Ino tsks.

"That's what you get for eating twelve sushi rolls."

"But they were soo good!"

"And where has that gotten you?" Choji stays quiet. "I thought so."

I shake my head at their antics and realize that the streets are even less populated than before. Walking through an intersection, I spot open shops on the other street. I need someone to come with me so they can tell me where the tower is when I finish. And I hadn't forgotten Satoshi's warning…I shudder.

With that plan made up, I call over the person closest to me. "Hey Naruto!"

The blonde stops talking to Kiba and whirls around to face me. Kiba stops walking too. "Huh? You want somethin' Sonic?"

Gesturing to the street to my left, I answer. "Yeah, uh, can we look around at some shops? I kinda need knew gloves and don't want to go alone." Naruto stares at me blankly, then smirks knowingly.

"Sure!" Turning back to Kiba, Naruto waves the brunet off and points to the others farther down the road since they didn't know we have stopped. "Tell the others we'll meet them at the tower, ok?"

Kiba nods and runs up to catch up to the rest of the genin.

Naruto walks past me onto the other road and I keep in step with him. He glances down at my hands curiously. "You know, we are gonna have to continue buying you more gloves."

I roll my eyes. "Not if I take them off before I change, duh."

Naruto pouts. "_Sorry_ for thinking ahead!" I playfully punch him on the shoulder.

"Come on, it was just a joke."

Naruto cheeks redden in embarrassment. "Uh…I knew that!" He then quickly points at a clothing store. "That's a good place to start!"

I follow him into the store and see that we are the only ones here, except for the owner at the register, who is nodding off. We split up to cover more ground for any gloves. A couple minutes later, Naruto trots up to me.

"Hey look! I found some." In his hands are some black fingerless gloves. Extra, _extra_ large? And they even seem like they would be too small! "I know they aren't like the ones you had before, but this was all I could find."

I smile at him. "That's alright! These will do! Come on, let's go pay, with your money of course." Naruto glares weakly, but there is a grin on his face. We walk up to the counter and Naruto rings the bell placed on there. I stand behind him. The man blinks awake.

"Welcome! What can I do for-oh, it's _you_." My eyes narrow. What's with this guy's attitude?

"Yeah..." Naruto softly answers. He holds up the gloves. "I would like to buy these, please." The man roughly takes the gloves and rings them up. My eyes narrow even further.

"These are a thousand ryo." Naruto sputters.

"B-But on the tag…" The man glares at him.

"Take it or leave it kid!" Alright, I've seen enough of this. I step up beside Naruto and the man's eyes widen, like he hasn't even noticed my presence. "You're…!" He then trails off when I glare and growl at him.

"Yes. It's me from some horde of crazy fangirls' mouths, but that's not the point. Now you have three choices: let us have the gloves for free, let my friend pay the _right_ price for the gloves which is only one hundred whatevers, or I tear you limb from limb. And I _really _don't mind doing the last one." The man gulps, turns back to surprised looking Naruto, and gives him the most pathetic fake smile I've ever seen.

"My apologies. I must have read the number wrong on the register." Uh huh. Better have. "It'll be a hundred ryo." Naruto glances between me and the nervous looking man. He finally digs in his pocket to pull out the needed money and gives it to the man. The man then hands Naruto back the gloves. "Thank you. Come back soon." We are about to walk out the door when the man mutters to himself. "Why does Lord Hokage let that _demon _child roam the streets?"

I see Naruto cringe in the corner of my eye and I was about to give that man a hell of a headache when the blonde's hand lands on my shoulder. I glance at him and he shakes his head. With one more glare towards the shopkeeper, we walk out into the street.

We walk in silence for a bit before I decide to break it. "What was up with that guy?"

Naruto looks away from me. "I don't know…"

I eye him suspiciously and stop walking. I grab his arm to keep him from continuing and turn him around. He refuses to meet my gaze. "You do know. Now, what happened back there?"

The blonde sighs before looking up. "It's been like that my whole life." I wait for him to continue, but he doesn't.

"Why? Why did he call you a demon? You aren't that rowdy."

"That's not why he called me that." I almost didn't hear him. Then how come…? "You're my friend right?" He asks a little louder.

I cross my arms. "Of course I am, but what does that have to do with anything?"

He shrugs shyly. "Just needed to know." Naruto then slowly lifts up his shirt to show his stomach. I stare at him with curiosity. He closes his eyes and focuses, then a black pattern appears on his skin. My eyes widen in amazement and my arms fall to my sides. Is it a tattoo?

Naruto opens his eyes, sighing again. He points to his stomach. "This is a seal. They contain whatever is held inside of them, no matter how powerful that something is." He lets go of his shirt. "I-" The blonde swallows thickly and begins again. "I have a demon inside of me."

"A demon?" I ask, making sure my ears weren't failing me.

Naruto nods solemnly. "Yeah…but not just any demon. It's a demon that attacked this village twelve years ago, causing many deaths. He's the nine-tailed fox, the most powerful of all demons. Sometimes, I can use his chakra."

It takes a second for this information to sink in. So that was the red chakra I saw the other day when we were fighting. It's the work of a demon huh? It also makes sense to why the villagers hate him, but that doesn't make it right though. _Naruto_ hasn't done anything wrong.

Apparently my silence meant something bad to Naruto because he looks at me pleadingly. "Say something! Please…"

I stare at him for a moment, then scoff. "You're an idiot."

Not expecting that response, Naruto leans back in shock. "Wh-what?"

I put my hand on my hip and point to him with my other one. "You expected me to disown you when I found out the truth. Am I right?" He hesitantly nods. "That's where you're wrong. I never abandon my friends, no matter who they are or what they have inside of them."

Naruto's eyes seem to brighten. "Really? You mean it?"

I give him a grin. "Why would I lie?" He smiles and we continue in the direction of the tower. "Have you told any of your friends?" The smile falters a bit. He scratches the back of his head.

"Not really…"

I glance at him and give him a smile. "Alright. If you won't spill, then I won't either. But you will tell them eventually, right?"

Naruto returns the gesture. "Yeah, I will. Oh, and thank you, for what you did back there."

I wink and put my arm around his shoulder. "Anytime! No one talks to my bud like that!" He shrugs off my arm and smirks, a challenge in his eyes.

"Want to race to the tower?"

"What? I don't even know the way!"

Naruto then takes off. "Not my problem!" He calls back.

Dropping down to all fours, I try to catch up with him. "That is so unfair!"


	17. Chapter 17

**Sonic: (eyes wide and whispers) Oh no…this is bad. Sasuke's not supposed to know about the demon! What am I gonna do? He obviously knows now and I said to Naruto that I wouldn't spill! Now that I think about it…**_**I **_**didn't tell him. It just kinda happened. Alright, every things ok now. I'll just tell Naruto that it was an accident. That way he'll-**

**Sasuke: (yawns) Why are you talking to yourself like an idiot? Woke me up…**

**Sonic: (freezes and looks at Sasuke) You were **_**sleeping**_**?!**

**Sasuke: (stares at Sonic weirdly) Yeah, until you're crazy talk woke me up.**

**Sonic: Okay…How long were you asleep?**

**Sasuke: I think I nodded off when you and Naruto walked in the store. Why? Did I miss something important?**

**Sonic: (sighs in relief) No you didn't miss anything. When we left, we just raced to the tower, that's all.**

**Sasuke: That's it?**

**Sonic: (nods) That's it.**

**Explore**

Naruto and I make it to the tower in about three minutes. He, of course, makes it first and me about half a second later. We both lean against the wall of the building to catch our breaths. Naruto then smiles and pumps his fist. "Woo! I won! And you lost!"

I scoff. "As if! I couldn't get in front of you if I wanted to; I would get lost in this huge place!"

Naruto rolls his eyes. "That's not a good excuse and you know it." He emphasizes the 'you' by pointing at me. "You would have found your way here eventually. This isn't exactly a small structure."

"But by the time I would've found this, you would be here waiting for me."

"Uh huh, sure…" He nods towards the entrance of the tower. "Come on. I think the others are already talking to the old hag."

I follow him, but not before pulling out the trump card. "I could have beaten you. Remember the race in the forest, hm? That I won?" Naruto pauses walking, then continues.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." I chuckle lowly and continue to walk inside the building.

Stepping inside, I see that we are in some kind of reception area with a woman at the front desk. There are some ninja talking around the room. When we walk past, the ninja stare at me with curiosity, no doubt hearing about me through rumors. They turn away and act like they weren't looking when I glance at them. I frown; they don't have to be so secretive about it.

Naruto walks up to the receptionist. "Hey, did a large group of ninja walk by to speak with the hokage?"

She looks up from her work and smiles. "Yes. They passed by not too long ago." Thank God she is nice. If she was anything like that shopkeeper, I would've gone postal.

The blonde gives her a bright smile. "Thanks ma'am!" She nods and goes back to whatever she was doing. I follow Naruto to the stairs and climb a long way before reaching a door at the top. He is about to open the door, but he pauses when his hand is an inch away. He turns to me with a grin.

"If you see bottles on old hag's desk, don't be surprised." I tilt my head in confusion. Bottles? What in the hell is this boy talking about? Naruto sees my confusion and snickers to himself. "You'll see…"

He opens the door and I get smacked in the face by the stench of alcohol. Looking around the room, I see that the smell is emanating from the desk on the far side of the room. Where Tsunade is sipping on her…._sixth_ bottle of sake. The second thing I notice is the presence of the genin and Kakashi. They glance back at us.

"Well, well. It's about time you two showed up!" Sakura says.

Naruto scratches the back of his head. "You know we went shopping, and well, let's just say some stuff went down."

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "Stuff? What kind of stuff?" The blonde nervously glances at me and Sasuke's eyes snap over to me. "Sonic?" But I'm not even paying attention right now. I'm still not over the fact that the _hokage_, the person in charge of all the shit in this village, is _drunk_. And I can safely say that this isn't just a one-time thing.

I start forward, and ignoring everyone's questions, stop at the desk, nose scrunched from the overpowering stench. Tsunade eyes me warily and raises her hand to take another sip. When she does so, I quickly reach over and snatch the bottle from her grasp. The room is filled with silence.

The bottle is then thrown across the room, where it smashes against the wall. Its contents splatter and drip down towards the floor. Her assistant looks at me wide eyed, and she edges away from the fuming Tsunade. Said blonde stands up and pounds her fist on the table, making every person jump, except me. She glares death and points at me with her manicured finger.

"You-" She growls out. "will pay for that, literally. That bottle was the last one until the next shipment!"

I stare at her blankly. "Does it look like I care?" My stare turns into a glare. "You need to stop drinking this crap. A drunk hokage isn't gonna help this village much."

Tsunade leans forward on her desk. "_You_ don't tell _me _how to do my job."

I step closer to her, not backing down. "Someone has to." We both scowl at each other; you could cut the tension in the air with a knife.

Kakashi coughs awkwardly but neither of our glares waiver. He sighs. "We didn't finish what we were talking about before Sonic and Naruto came in." Tsunade's eye twitches, and I smirk. She is so gonna break first. But to my surprise, she keeps her face.

"We are going to have to make a momentary truce." A truce? Is the out of her mind? I never back down from a challenge!

"No way in hell." Her eyes widen before narrowing even more. She then copies my smirk.

"Really? I thought you would like to know if you are even allowed to roam _my_ streets and not be cooped up in that house. But, I guess not."

Ooo, she's a sneaky one. I gotta know about my future here, and my eyes are starting to get a little on the dry side.

"A truce, huh?"

"Yes. All we have to do is look away at the same time, and neither of us had backed away from this."

"Agreed."

"Alright, we look away…now!" We both back away from each other and glance at Kakashi. The tense atmosphere dissipates and the others let out the breath they were holding.

Kiba then comes up to me. "Dude! I don't think _anyone _has _ever_ taken away the hokage's sake and walk away with no injury!"

Crossing my arms, I scoff. "She isn't that intimidating." The vein on Tsunade's forehead bulges and she takes a deep breath.

"Before I get mad _again, _can someone tell me why Sonic's name spread through the village faster than the flu?"

We all point to Kakashi and said jonin sweat drops. "Well…I thought Sonic here would like to eat with us and see the sights."

Tsunade sits back down in her seat at the desk. "But it doesn't explain how everyone, and I mean _everyone, _knows about him. I've had numerous ninja come in here to ask about him!" She jabs her thumb over to me.

Sasuke steps up and the blonde raises her golden eyebrow. "One word. Fangirls."

Tsunade glances over to me then nods to herself. "That explains it." She leans back. "Shizune, can you fetch me some sak-uh…water."

"Of course!" The black haired lady answers as she leaves the room.

"Now Naruto," The blue eyed boy perks up. "I'm going to need to know what held you two up. I can tell what happened will determine whether or not Sonic is allowed in the general public."

Inside, I start to panic a little. I did threaten a guy, but that isn't too serious, right?

"But old hag!" He gestures to me. "Sonic isn't dangerous!"

"I will determine that _after_ the story."

Naruto looks over to me and I give him a nod. He sighs. "It started when Sonic and I walked into a store to buy him some new gloves." He holds up the aforementioned items.

"Oh yeah! Kiba did tell us that." Ino cuts in.

"Yeah." Naruto continues. "Then we found some suitable ones and walked up to the counter that the shopkeeper was sleeping by. I rang the bell and he woke up. The man didn't have the…nicest attitude." Tsunade nods, apparently finding the hidden meaning in Naruto's words. "Then told me that the gloves were a thousand ryo instead of a hundred. I tried to plead, but he said buy them at his price, or not at all." The older blonde's agitation seems to rise with every word Naruto is saying. "That's when Sonic stepped up. He said to let me have the gloves for free, have me pay the right price, or-"

"Rip him limb from limb." I finish, giving all occupants in the room a feral grin. Everyone's eyes widen, then shift over to Tsunade who, surprisingly, has a small smile on her face. Shizune comes back in with the water and the older blonde drinks some.

"So," She places the glass on her desk. "What was his reaction?"

Taken back by her satisfied disposition, I answer, grin growing a bit. "Looked like he was about to piss himself."

She lets out a chuckle, then stands up. "I've changed my opinion about you, Sonic. Thanks for standing up for him." Tsunade holds out her hand. "No hard feelings?"

I smile and shake her hand without hesitation. "No hard feelings."

"S-So he can r-roam when he w-wants to, r-right?" Hinata softly asks. Tsunade lets go and nods.

"Yeah, he can. Now get out of my office! I gotta finish some paperwork and order the new supply of sake." She glares at me, but it doesn't contain the usual malice.

We all start to walk out when I call back to her. "Don't get too drunk!"

"We'll see…" She mutters and I chuckle lowly. I could get used to her.

When we get outside the tower, Tenten speaks up. "That…went better than expected."

"Yes." Neji agrees. "When you took her sake, I thought chairs would start flying."

Surprised, I turn to Neji. "She throws chairs?"

He nods. "Her desk too, if she's mad enough." I am so glad I dodged that bullet.

As we get closer to Sasuke's home, the trees come back and nightlife sounds in the village get softer. I yawn as we walk up to the house. Why am I so tired? It can't be that late.

Walking inside after Sasuke opens his door, I look at the clock. Eleven? It _is_ that late! The others gather in the living room, guessing to stay up longer. I get closer to Naruto sitting on the couch with Sasuke. I hold my clawed hand out.

"Hey, can I get my gloves so I can put them in my room? I'm about to get some shut eye." Naruto glances up to me and hands me the gloves.

"Are you sure you don't want to hang out here longer?"

I shake my head. "If I stay out here, y'all are gonna end up carrying me to my room." Naruto snickers and I look at everyone else in the room. "Goodnight everyone. See y'all in the morning!

Various forms of goodnights answer and I make my way to my room. Inside, I kick off my shoes and place the new gloves on the night stand by the bed. Snuggling up under the covers, I fall asleep.

**Next morning**

Slowly breaking the hold of sleep, I wipe the sleep from my eyes and yawn. Blinking to focus my eyes, I sit up and realize two things. One, I must have changed back to my regular form in my sleep. Is it bad that I've gotten used to it? And two, the wonderful aroma of breakfast is missing. Looking at the clock beside the bed, it reads eleven thirty. I scratch my head. Someone is usually up by now, cooking something.

Sitting here isn't gonna solve the mystery! Jumping out of bed, I put on my shoes and head for the door. Wait a minute…I'm forgetting something. Glancing back towards the bed, I see the gloves on the nightstand. I grin to myself. Almost forgot about those!

Trotting back over to the bed, I slip the gloves on and examine my now partially covered hands. Not bad, I might invest in more of these later on.

Now I walk out the door and go into the kitchen to find it strangely empty. Maybe in the living room? Searching in said room, there is no sign of life. I sigh, time to look upstairs. Tip toeing upstairs, I drift to the first room with its door ajar.

Peering inside, I chuckle when I see Naruto in his pajamas sprawled all over his bed. I close the door slowly and as quietly as before, make my way downstairs. They all must've went to bed late, by the way Naruto was snoring.

In the living room, I lean on the wall pondering my options. I could wait for the others to wake up, and I don't know how long _that_ will take, make breakfast myself but I really don't feel like being blamed from the resulting fire, or I can just go out to get something for myself and explore the village some more. The third option seems like the best one. But how am I going to tell them I'm gone without waking them up…?

Looking around the room for some inspiration, I spot the forgotten paper and ink brush on the shelf. That's it! I can just leave them a note! Taking the ink and paper, I write to the others that I'll be exploring the town, so don't go crazy that I'm not here. I smile at what I wrote and place it on the kitchen table, knowing that it will be spotted there.

I leave the house breathing in the fresh morning air. The breeze flows through my quills as I walk towards the village. Soon I'm able to hear the people chatter and morning commotion. Stepping onto the same street as before, I see civilians and the occasional ninja walk past going about their business. I start to walk aimlessly with the traffic of people; it is definitely more crowded now than at night.

More often than not, citizens would either wave at me, having seen me sometime yesterday, or look at me in awe. I wave back at the ones who did it first and smile at the awe struck ones. I continue doing this until my stomach makes a grand appearance in sound form. Placing my hand my stomach, I look around for any food joints I could raid. Seeing none, I keep trudging through the village's twists and turns, my belly complaining the whole time.

Damn, if only I could remember where that restaurant was that we went to yesterday…

My train of thoughts are rudely interrupted by a high pitched squeal coming from behind me. Feeling a sense of foreboding, I turn around slowly to have my fears confirmed. The girl squealing is the brunette from before. Oh _hell_…Maybe if I can keep moving and act like I didn't hear her, she won't cause a scene. I turn around and take about two steps before my nightmares become a reality.

"Look everyone! It's _Sonic_!" Cursing her with every explicative I know, I glance back her and my eyes widen in horror. It isn't just her anymore, there is about _twenty_ twelve year old girls in a cluster surrounding the brunette. Said girl is grinning victoriously. "You won't get away from us this time Sonic!"

They begin to charge.

I start running for my life.

Risking a look behind me, the girl horde pauses in surprise at my speed, then start back chasing me again _faster_ than they were before. Ok, I need to find a place to hide NOW! I shift my eyes back to the front and zig-zag in between other people on the road. I keep running until I see a narrow alley way to my right. Thanking the heavens, I screech to a halt and quickly sidestep into it. I press my back against the wall and wait. A couple seconds later I hear the rapid footsteps of the group of girls. They stop right beside the alley; I hold my breath.

"Where did he go?!"

"How can he be that fast!?"

"Did anyone see where he went?"

"I think he went that way!"

"No, I think he went this way!"

"Both of you are wrong! He went THAT way!"

"_Shut up!_" That's the brunette's voice. "I say we spit up to find him. We will get nowhere with us fighting like this!"

Silence.

"You're totally right Yuki!" A girl agrees.

"That's why we made you leader!" Another gushes.

"Got that right! Now let's find him!"

"YEAH!" All the girls roar and I hear their footsteps go in different directions, all of them getting softer.

I let out the breath I was holding and cautiously step out onto the main road again. Seeing no one but the regular crowd, I sigh in relief. That was close! I start to wander again, keeping an eye out for any ambushes, but it isn't long before my stomach growls again and I get a sniff of something familiar.

"Is that…ramen?" I whisper to myself, letting my nose guide me to its source. A couple minutes later, I find myself at a smaller restaurant with a bar. I take a glance at the sign. "Ichiraku Ramen, huh? Wouldn't hurt to check it out."

Walking up to the building, I duck under the hanging curtains and sit down at a stool. The man running the joint turns around to give me a menu. As soon as he sees me however, he pauses for a split second before proceeding to hand me the paper. "Welcome to Ichiraku's! I've heard about you from rumors; your names Sonic, right?" I nod in response. "Well then welcome to my ramen bar Sonic! I'll let you look over the menu for a sec. Call me when you're ready."

"Alright, I will. Thanks." I give him a smile and look down at the menu. Miso ramen, pork ramen, vegetable, fish…he wasn't kidding around when he said ramen bar! But hey, food is food and I _really_ need some right now. Looking over the menu a little while longer, I decide to order the pork ramen. I wave the man over. "I would like to have the pork please."

He takes the menu and nods. "Ayame! Cook up some pork ramen pronto!" He shouts to the back of the shop.

"Ok Dad!"

I raise an eyebrow. "Dad?"

The man glances back at me. "Yep, my daughter and I run this small establishment."

"Wow, that's a commitment!"

"Sure is. Your ramen will be ready in a while."

He walks away then I hear familiar voices enter the restaurant.

"I swear I was going to slap that pervert! How dare he feel me up like that! He's lucky I didn't get his ass kicked out of the place!

"Geez, calm down. That 'pervert' was a blind man. He didn't even know he was touching you!"

"I don't care! He had to know somehow!" The two take a seat two stools away from me and the same man from before takes their orders. When he leaves, I sneak a peek at the other occupants. I perk up and wave.

"Hey Naomi! Satoshi!" Naomi, with her arms crossed, looks over at the sound of her name, Satoshi too.

The former smiles brightly. "Hey there Sonic!"

"Hi Sonic." Satoshi says with a small wave back. "What are you doing here alone?"

I just shrug. "I was looking for something to eat because my roommates were still asleep and I didn't want to risk bodily harm trying to cook." They laugh at that. I return the question. "Why are you two here?

"We came here for lunch." Naomi answers.

"Really? Don't you have employee discounts at your job?"

The girl rolls her eyes. "Ha! I wish! But nope, we have to pay the same price as everyone else. Since this place is way cheaper, we decided to come here."

The man then comes out with all three of our bowls and places them in front of us with chopsticks. The two beside me take the sticks and dig into their lunch while I just stare at mine. I've run into a problem.

Satoshi, seeing me not eating, notices the problem and snickers. "You don't know how to use chopsticks Sonic?"

I glance at him and pick the chopsticks up. After trying many times to use them, I answer. "Nope."

He holds out his hand with the chopsticks. "Try to position the sticks like this in your hand." I study his hand and try to mimic the chopstick placement. "Alright, you got that down. Now, you eat like this." He slowly picks up the noodles and brings them to his mouth. I think I got it. I copy his movements and get the food in my mouth.

I smile as the flavor bursts into my mouth. "Thanks." I say to him. Satoshi nods. "It's a funny story how I made it here." I say with a mouth full. Swallowing, I continue. "I found this place after getting chased by a horde of fangirls."

Naomi and Satoshi both chuckle. The former points her sticks at me. "Satoshi told you that will happen! Now do you believe him?"

"Hell yes! I don't even want to think about what would've happened if I got caught!"

"You're lucky you got away, man. You would be at their mercy." I shudder at Satoshi's statement, unwanted visuals pop up in my head. No! Go away! No need to be traumatized.

I shake my head to clear it and said boy burps after he finishes his last bite of the broth. Naomi finishes not long later. "Well Sonic," She stretches and stands up. "We gotta get back to work if we want to keep our jobs." She hands the man money for the both of them and they turn to exit. "See ya later!"

Naomi leaves and Satoshi looks back with a smirk. "And remember, keep safe. Later." I give him a small wave as he leaves. I look back at my bowl which is only half empty. How can they eat this that fast without choking?

Ousting the two's weird eating habits, I finish up my serving and push the bowl away. I pat my stomach, this stuff can sure fill you up! The owner takes my bowl and comes back with his hand out. I just stare at it before understanding what he wanted. Problem two of the day. I chuckle nervously and scratch the back of my head.

"Um…well you see…" I don't get to finish trying to weasel my way out of the situation before a handful of change is handed to the man by an unknown source. Surprised, I look up to see Iruka smiling down at me. He then turns to the owner.

"You can keep the change, Teuchi." The man named Teuchi smiles.

"Thanks Iruka."

Iruka turns back to me and gestures me to follow him. Without question, I follow, partially because I don't want to be rude to the man who paid for my food. "Thanks for that back there! I was really in a pinch."

He chuckles. "No problem. I was just passing by from the place I was having my lunch heading back to the academy when I saw you in there."

"The academy? Oh yeah, you are a teacher there."

"Right. Do you have anything to do now?" I glance at Iruka curiously for the off the wall question.

"No. Why?" Iruka smiles.

"Because I have a whole class of six and seven year olds dying to meet you." What? Me? Iruka sees the surprise on my face. "Why does that even phase you? The whole village knows who you are."

"I know, but I just didn't expect young kids to know also." I scratch my nose. "Well, I have nothing better to do. I'll go visit the kids. What do you want me to do?"

We walk around a corner and the academy is seen in the distance. Iruka just shakes his head. "You don't really have to do anything. Just play with them."

"Play, that's it?" I'm kinda relieved I don't have to teach or anything because I don't know jack _anything_ about this world.

"Yep! They have had good behavior for a while and I think they deserve a reward. Ah, here we are." We walk up to the door of the school and enter inside. Looking around, I see various items from colored pictures to fake kunais for the older students.

Passing by many classrooms, we finally get to Iruka's. He opens the door and tells me to stay outside. He then steps inside and shuts the door. From where I'm standing, I can hear him. "Thanks for substituting Bear. You can leave now." The door opens up again.

"What was she thinking? Sending me to babysit some kids here. That was the lowest of the low. I think that all that sake is getting to her-" The whispering bear masked ninja stops talking to himself as soon as he spots me. We just stand in silence for a moment before he straightens up and clears his throat. "You heard nothing." Then he disappears in a swirl of leaves that, again, doesn't make any sense.

I blink. Well that just happened.

"-have a special guess today!" My ears perk up. Guess that's my cue.

I open the door and walk in, smiling at the gasps of the students. I reach Iruka before facing the class, waving at the little kids barely retaining their excitement. Iruka continues to speak.

"As most of you know, this is Sonic. He's here because you all have been very good boys and girls. Now you can get to know him and play with him outside!" As soon as Iruka finishes talking, the children cheer and run outside through the side door. He shakes his head in exasperation with a smile and I chuckle. He turns to me. "They are real bundles of energy. Let's go outside."

We leave the classroom to see a playground with a sandbox and swings, which are all occupied with the little guys. Waving back to Iruka, I make my way to playground. However, on my way, I get stopped by three identical looking boys. They only way to tell them apart is that one is taller than the other two and that the other two have different hairstyles.

"Are you a fast runner Sonic?" I place my hands on my knees and squat down some to get eye level. Grinning, I nod.

"Really?" One of the two shorter triplets asks; he has brown hair in a bowl haircut.

"Yep!"

"Can you play tag with us then?" The last triple suggests; he has brown hair done like Naruto's.

"I can, but I'm not sure you can keep up!"

All three cross their arms cutely. "We can!" They say at the same time.

"Well then," I reach over the tap the one with the bowl haircut. "You're it!"

"Hey!" He's brothers giggle as they and I run away from the shocked sibling. Other students come in to play as soon as they see me running, more like speed walking, from the boy. When I'm it I give them a good five minutes of running away before actually tagging one of them, to make it 'fair'. We also play hide-and-seek and ring around the rosie. That's how the three hours I was there past, playing a multitude of games with the kids.

Right now, I'm busy helping a girl build a sandcastle when Iruka calls everyone back inside. I gather up the other students and walk back into the building.

"I looks like all of you enjoyed having Sonic here."

"We sure did!" The taller triplet says and everyone else agrees with him.

"Well then, if you all keep on having good behavior, he might make another visit!" The classroom erupts in cheers and Iruka turns to me with a small smile. "Thanks for doing this. You can go now if you like."

I grin and give him a two fingered salute, heading towards the door. "It was no problem! And I would love to do this again!" He waves back, then turns his attention back to the class.

"Bye kids!"

"BYE SONIC!"

Smilling, I exit the classroom and close the door behind me.

Leaving the academy altogether, I start to wander around aimlessly again, not really wanting to go back to the house just yet. I just explore the village, going up and down the streets, still looking out for the fangirls who can be still hiding out somewhere.

This is until I walk on a new street I've never been on before.

"Hey! Hey you!" I pause in my stride and turn around to see three kids. After looking behind myself for any other person, I turn forward and point to myself. "Yes you!" The leader of the group says as he gets closer. The rest of his group, a girl and another boy, follows him. They all have green goggles on their heads. "I saw you with Boss yesterday!" I just stare at him. Who in the hell is 'Boss'?

"Look kid, I have no idea what you are talking about."

The kid then points at me. "Yes you do! You was with him!" Damn this kid is starting to get annoying.

"Alright, can you at least give me his name?"

"Naruto! You were with him!" Naruto? That's 'Boss'?

"Yeah, I was with him."

"See, Konohamaru, you could've said his name from the start!" The girl chastises.

"I-" Sniff. "agree with her Konohamaru." More sniffing. Those this kid not know that he has snot running down his face?

"Aw. Moegi, Udon, y'all are no fun…" So that's their names.

I cross my arms and tap my foot. "So, Konohamaru, what do you want with me?"

"Oh yeah!" Konohamaru points at me again. "Because you know our Boss, you have to teach us how to run as fast as you did earlier! We saw you!"

Holding my hands up, I start to protest. "Whoa hold up. What does knowing Naruto have to do with teaching you anything?"

"Well that's because we will tell on you if you don't." Moegi says like it is the most obvious thing in the world. I sweat drop, does she really think I care? And I can't even teach them if I wanted to!

I scratch the back of my head. "Listen, I can' teach you to run like me. Ya see-"

"Liar! Yes you can!" Konohamaru interrupts.

A vein pulses on my forehead and I sigh. "I don't have time for this." Which is a lie. "No, I can't do that."

"Yes you CAN!"

"No I CAN'T!"

"Yes you _CAN_!"

"No I _CAN'T_!"

"Yes you _**CAN!"**_

"No I _**CA-**_"

"OMG! Is that Sonic I hear?!"

_Shit._

Why was I arguing with a little kid anyway?

"I'm going to have to get back to you on that, because I have to go like right _now._" I start to back away from the trio of friends.

"Oh no you don't! We aren't finished here!" Just then the horde of tween girls turned onto the street I am on right now. The brunette, Yuki, (has she been looking _all_ _day_?) points at me.

"There he is!" They charge and I speed off like a bat straight out of hell, leaving three very confused children behind.

I turn back and my eyes widen. Have they gotten even _faster_ than earlier? It's totally plausible right now because I'm going the same speed as before and they are catching up. Time to kick it up a notch.

My legs move quicker and the girls are falling way behind. I glance behind me to see the girls far enough not even to be a threat anymore, if I keep going this speed. Turning a corner, I bump into someone hard because I wasn't looking where I was going. I fall backwards and land on my back, groaning.

I really need to look forwards when running like that.

"Watch where you're going! You…! Wait, you're Sonic, aren't you?" I open my eyes that I closed when I hit the ground, to see a women with purple hair wearing a mesh body suit, nothing but a mini-skirt and a beige trench coat standing in front of me. Kakashi was in first place, but this lady takes the cake in the uh…most _unique _appearance list. She chuckles. "I guess I should help you up first." I take her offered hand and stand up, dusting myself off.

"Yeah, the name's Sonic! Yours?"

"Anko, Anko Mitarashi."

I give her an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that run in, Anko. I was just…" I trail off as I hear the pitter patter of footsteps. I've wasted too much time! And they are just right around the corner. Breaking into a cold sweat, I look at Anko desperation. "Please tell me there is somewhere to hide around here!"

She raises a brow. "Who are you hiding from?"

"The fangirls!" I almost yell and Anko smirks.

"Right, I gotcha!" She grabs my arm unexpectedly and pulls me as she starts to run away from the footsteps. "I know just the place you can hide!"

"O-Ok!" I gain my footing and follow her, arm still in her grasp. We turn a couple more corners before hopping into a building. She now lets go of my arm.

"You'll be safe here!" She says as I rotate my shoulder a bit. I then look around the place, it seems like another restaurant.

"What exactly is 'here'?" I ask.

Anko grins at me. "It's just the place where my favorite food is sold!" She walks over to the counter and takes an order. "Have you ever had dango before?"

"Dango? Can't say that I have."

Anko's eyes widen. "You are gonna try some then! Come take a seat!" We both sit at the bar and wait for the dango to get ready.

"So, what does it taste like?"

"I can't even explain it. You have to taste it yourself! Trust me, once you taste one, you would be begging for more!" Alright…now I'm kinda scared to try the stuff.

"Your order of six sticks of dango." The cook places down the plate in front of us. "Enjoy."

"We sure will!" Anko hurriedly picks up a stick and eats one of the dango. "Mmmm…don't just stare, try one!"

I look down at the balls of whatever on the sticks. Picking one up, I take a small bite to have it sweetly melt into my mouth. My eyes widen. "This stuff is awesome!" I take another bite, bigger this time.

"Isn't it?" Anko says grabbing for her second stick. "Sweetest things around!"

"Wait a minute. You were going to eat six sticks of this by yourself? Because you didn't know that I was gonna even eat any."

She cheeks flush in embarrassment. "Well uh…that's because…just shut up. I know I have a problem."

I chuckle and we go into comfortable silence as we eat the greatest, sweetest dessert I have had in a long time. Ice cream doesn't compare to this! When we finish the plate, Anko asks if I want some more and as much as I really want to take her up on that offer, I don't think my stomach can handle anymore.

"Oh crap! I forgot I don't have any money to pay for my share."

Anko just waves me off. "Don't worry! It's all on me."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive!"

"Ok, see you around then!" I wave back to her as I walk out of the restaurant. I barely get to stand outside before there is an all-to-familiar shriek. I throw my hands up in exasperation. "Oh _for crying out loud!_ Anko!" I yell back into the building. "I thought you said that this place was a good hiding spot!"

"It was!" She responds. "But you're not inside, are you?"

Touché.

Not even looking for the group of ravenous animals, I speed off trying to put as much space I possibly can between us. Maybe if I go away from the buildings, they won't be able to find me. I need to get a better view of the village. I jump of on the closest building's roof and search the village. No such luck on any secret spots to hide in. I sigh and look up to the sky only to freeze at the sight of a giant cliff with faces carved on the side.

"I'm I blind? How come I've _never_ seen _this_ before!" I examine the faces and only see four. I'm guessing these are the hokages before Tsunade. Looking at the fourth one, my curiosity raises. Is it just me, or does that one kinda look like Naruto? I'll ask about that later, if I remember. Now to figure out how to get up there. My eyes follow the top edge of the cliff and see that it slants down at the ends to ground level. That part's not that far away from here.

After hopping across I couple of buildings, I jump down at the last one and make my way up the mountain. It takes about two minutes to get to the top because I am jogging the whole way. When I arrive at the very top, the view takes my breath away. You can see _everything_ from here! Even Sasuke's house in the distance. Shielding my eyes from the sun, I squint and can barely make out little specks that are leaving the house and heading for the secret clearing. I smile slightly; training, training, and more training.

Content with just the view, I plop down near the edge and watch people scatter about down there, going along with whatever they are doing. I snicker, from this view, I can even see the group of girls still searching the town for me. They will never find me up here.

The wind blows and clean, fresh air enter my lungs. Man, I can stay up here for a while! I lay down on my stomach so I can still see the village. The sun shines warmly on my back and before I know it, my eyelids start to drop and I'm asleep within seconds.

*Slither* *Hiss*

"Huh? What's that noise?" I wipe away the slobber around my mouth and sit up to find a snake to my left looking at me very intently. Its stare sends a shiver down my spine. I freeze and it look back at it warily. "Oh, good snakey. Just stay there and don't bite me." The snake doesn't answer (did I really expect it to?); it doesn't even move. Thinking no news is good news, I slowly stand up and take a couple steps backwards. Then the snake snaps out of whatever trance it was in and slithers away. I watch it leave. That was really creepy. Are all of the animals here like that?

I glance away from the spot the snake disappeared and am surprised to see that the sun is setting. That must've been a long nap and it would've been longer if it wasn't for that snake.

Running full speed down the mountain, I hurry so the others don't worry about me. I reach the bottom and maneuver through the people who are still out and about. I reach the edge of the village in about five minutes. Slowing down to a jog, I close the distance to the house. Reaching the door, I knock and hope that they are back from training from earlier.

Thankfully, Sasuke opens the door and raises his eyebrow once he realizes it is me. He moves out the way and lets me inside. "We are having dinner right now." He closes the door behind me. "Where have you been? You've been gone all day."

I wiggle my finger at him. "I don't want to repeat my tales in Konoha more than once, so you will have to wait." Sasuke sighs and we walk out of the living room into the kitchen, where the others were eating ramen again. "Hey everyone!" I greet as I sit at the table with Sasuke beside me.

I receive a multitude of responses and Sakura gets up to fix me some ramen too. I hold up my hand to stop her. "I'm fine Sakura. I ate in the village." She looks at me curiously before sitting back down.

"Now I'm dying to know about today!" Ino squeals and I flinch.

"Please don't do that again…" Ino tilts her head in confusion, but nods anyway. "I'll tell y'all all about my day in Konoha." I lean my elbows on the table. "But first, have any of you tried dango?"


	18. Chapter 18

**Sasuke: (shakes head): I can't believe you actually ate with Anko.**

**Sonic: Why? She was nice and had a fun personality. **

**Sasuke: That's the side of her not seen often. She usually is a psychotic witch. **

**Sonic: Ouch. That's a little harsh isn't it?**

**Sasuke: No. You haven't seen her during our chunin exams. She made us go survive for five **_**days**_** in a forest called the Forest of **_**Death**_**.**

**Sonic: (eyes wide) Wow.**

**Sasuke: See what I mean?**

**Hidden**

**Same day in the Sonic universe**

"A week! He has been gone for a _week_ guys! He's in trouble, I know it!"

I stare blankly at the two-tailed fox pacing back and forth. He's been doing this since he called me over to his place, about a half hour ago.

"Look, Tails, ranting about it isn't gonna bring Sonic back." Knuckles says laying down on the couch, throwing and catching a baseball.

But Tails doesn't hear him, he doesn't even pause in his mumbling. "I've should've known something was up when he didn't come back the day after he left. He's never gone more than a day without telling anyone!" Knuckles sighs and shakes his head, continuing to entertain himself with the ball. "What if Eggman captured him? What if he got lost somewhere? What if Amy kidnapped him? What if…"

I close my eyes in exasperation. "Tails…"

"Big sat on him?" He continues on. "What if Espio used him for target practice? What if-"

Alright, I've had enough. "Tails!" I glare at the fox.

Tails stops in his tracks and glances at me leaning on the wall in confusion. "Huh? Shadow? Did you say something?"

Pushing off the wall, I walk up to him, arms crossed. "Coming up with these insane situations isn't going to help you or him. The Faker is probably just out there sleeping somewhere. _Not_ in danger."

Tails' ears droop a little. "I don't know…"

"OWW!" We both look over to Knuckles glaring at the baseball on the floor and rubbing his nose, muttering obscenities under his breath. After taking a few seconds to compose himself, he sits up. "We all know you're paranoid Tails, but why did you call us here?"

Said fox perks up. "Oh yeah! I was thinking we all could work together to find him."

Knuckles rolls his eyes and stands up. "How do you even know that Sonic is in danger?"

"I don't, but I want to at least locate him! Aren't you two worried?"

Knuckles and I glance at each other, then shrug. "The Faker seemed to always take care of himself."

"I agree with mister grumpy here." I glare at the red echidna. "Nothing ever stopped him before, so why would it now?"

Tails lowers his gaze to the floor and nervously starts to fiddle with one of his tails. He sighs. "He's just been gone for so long and I'm just worried for my big bro, you know?" He looks back at us with puppy dog eyes on full power. Knuckles caves.

"Alright. I'll help you find Sonic only for you to stop worrying over him so much." Tails then fully faces me. I'm not going to cave to him. The Faker's fine and there is no need to waste my time to find him. He's most likely busy trying to outrun Amy; we haven't seen her in a while either. So nope, not giving in.

"Fine. I'll help." Damn that face.

The puppy eyes disappear as Tails' face light up. "Really? Thank guys! Follow me outside to the Tornado." The fox practically skips towards the door as we trail him outside.

The sun is still rising because it is only ten in the morning. A cool gentle breeze blows as Tails hops into the plane and activates the screen in it by pressing some buttons. "So how are we going to go about doing this Tails?" Knuckles asks as he scratches his head.

"Well, what I just activated is a Chaos Emerald tracker I installed just before I called you two to come over. With the help of just one emerald, the radar will tell us if a gem is near. The more emeralds we have means that the area the radar covers increases. From what I can remember, Sonic always has a gem on him, so can just track him by looking for the emeralds." Not a bad plan, but what do you expect from an eight year old genius?

"There's a problem Tails, none of us has a Chaos Emerald." Tails shakes his head at Knuckles and points at me.

"You have one on you, right Shadow?"

"Yeah." I reach inside my black quills to pull out a red emerald. I toss it over to Tails and he catches it.

"Ok. All I need to do is to put it in this little slot here and…" After Tails places the gem in its holder, the screen lights up and begins to beep. "Yes! It works! And it looks like there's one not too far away to the south of us. It won't even take ten minutes if we go by plane."

"Alright!" Knuckles jumps into the seat behind Tails. "Let's go find the missing hedgie!"

With less enthusiasm, I climb onto the wing of the plane and wait for Tails to take off. The fox puts on his goggles and cranks up the plane. I feel the rumble underneath my feet.

"You ready Shadow?" He asks. I glance at him and nod. "Here we go!" The plane starts the roll forward and slowly lift off the ground. The wind whips across my face and blows through my quills as the plane increases in speed and altitude. Looking down, I see the landscape going by in a blur. I sigh and turn back forwards. Hopefully this first one will be Sonic so I could go home and relax. Tails did wake me up from my sleep by calling and asking me to come over. Wanting to be nice to the young kit, I leave the comfort of my own home only to be pulled into this mess.

Next time, the phone will remain unanswered.

We start to fly over a large forest when I hear Tails' voice over the rushing winds. "Guys, I think the emerald is moving!"

Knuckles leans forward in his seat and looks over Tails' shoulder to read the radar. His face changes from curious to confused. "Since when have emeralds been able to move by themselves?"

"Maybe it isn't by itself." I call over to them and they look at me. "Somebody must be carrying it."

As soon as those words exit my mouth, Tails' blue eyes glisten with excitement. "Maybe it's Sonic!"

"Who else would it be? Let's catch up to him!" Knuckles suggests and the winds get rougher as the plane speeds up to catch the rogue speedster. The radar beeps faster as we get closer until it goes absolutely crazy when we are right on top of the emerald.

"We are right above the gem! Shadow, look down and see you can spot Sonic through the trees!" I grunt in response and do what he says. Through the thick foliage, I see not a blue body, but a white one with black wings. I sweat drop. Guess my relaxation is just going to have to wait.

"It isn't Sonic." I tell the other two.

"What? Who is it then?" Knuckles questions.

"It's Rouge."

Tails' smile fades from his face and Knuckles sighs loudly. "Why am I not surprised?"

The kit just shakes his head. "Well that's one down, five more to go. Wait a minute, no more emeralds are showing up on the radar. Shout down to her and tell her to fly up here Shadow."

"Alright." I glance back down. "Rouge!" Guess she didn't here because she didn't even look up. Looks like I'm going to have to yell louder. "_Rouge!"_ She finally looks up at the sound of my voice. Flying up, she smiles and waves.

"Hello fellas! What are you three up to?"

"We are looking for the Faker." I answer.

"Sonic? It's true that he hasn't been around lately. So, why did y'all call me up here for?"

"We need the Chaos Emerald you have." I reach out to take it out of her hand, but she pulls back just before I could grab it.

"Whoa there Shadow. What do you need it for?"

"We need it to search for Sonic! Just give it to us!" Knuckles agitatedly says.

Rouge thinks for a second. "Hmm, nope. You have to have a better reason than that." What? Looking for a possibly lost person isn't enough to give up the emerald? Glad she has her priorities straightened out.

"Please Rouge? We need it to increase the radar's area so we can find him. Do you need it where you're going?"

"No." She answers. "I was just going to babysit Cream for Vanilla."

"Then you can part with it! Just for a while! Right?"

Rouge sighs and glances at her emerald. Its yellow color matching the sun's rays. She keeps staring at it and I have to snap my fingers in her face to bring her back from where she had gone to in her head. Blinking a few times, she tosses me the emerald, which wasn't a good idea because I almost drop the damn thing for it to plummet I don't know how many feet. Thankfully, I get my grip on it and walk on the wing of the plane towards Tails. "Well, I gotta go now." Rouge sends a worried look Tails' way. "Be careful with her, ok?" I pause in handing the fox the gem and slowly turn back to the bat. Did she just call this rock a _her_?

"Her? Please tell me I didn't hear that right." Apparently Knuckles is following the same train of thought.

Rouge starts to stutter. "Uh…well you see…I gotta take care of Cream, so bye!" After she hurriedly finishes her statement, she quickly flies back down to the ground before we could say anything else.

The red echidna scratches his head. "There is something seriously wrong with that woman. She needs to get help."

"She isn't _that_ bad Knuckles." Tails inserts the newly obtained emerald into the holder. The silenced radar beeps again, finding another gem. "Besides, you're only acting like that because you just found out that she doesn't have a thing for Shadow."

Knuckles crosses his arms. "Why would I care about that anyway?" Then if you look really hard, you can see him blushing. "Don't know why she would _imply _that she did though…" He mutters the last part, but I still heard him.

I sigh. "She wasn't implying anything. You just comprehended it the wrong way."

Tails snickers as Knuckles sends a glare, nowhere as intimidating as mine, at me. "Oh, shut the hell up."

The kit's ears flatten against his head. "Knuckles!"

"Hehe, sorry Tails. Forgot, won't do it again."

The pilot just shakes his head. "Back to the situation at hand, there is another emerald about seven miles away from here, due north. I believe it's near a lake." He says pointing to the screen. Near a lake? I bet it's at the very bottom.

"What are you waiting for Tails? Let's turn this plane around!" I try to keep my balance as the fox turns full 180 to go the way we came.

After flying over the same trees again, they clear out and I see that the plane is now flying over Tails' place. There is also a pink hedgehog skipping up to the front door. She knocks on it rapidly.

"Tails? Sonic? You guys in there?" She puts her hands on her hips. Running out of patience, she knocks harder. "_Sonic! Tails!_ Open the door!" Amy taps her foot. After standing for about ten seconds, she then sits down on the steps with a sigh.

The pilot sweat drops and looks back at us. "Do y'all think we should, ah…tell her what we're doing?"

Knuckles waves him off. "Nah, she'll go home eventually."

"I agree. Plus, she'll only get in the way." I say. Nobody needs her emotions to get in the way and prolong this little mini-adventure any further. My couch is calling me, dammit.

I yawn as we pass above Amy and continue along our way to the lake. Getting there some minutes later, Tails makes the plane circle the large lake in the middle of a clearing. I get a good look at it and don't see the usual natural glow from an emerald coming from the water.

"What's the plan guys?" Tails ask.

"We are going to have to dive to look for the gem. You sure it's in the lake?" I ask and the kit checks the radar again.

"Before, it showed me that the emerald was near the lake, but I guess because we're closer, it's now telling me that it is located inside the lake." I called that. "I'll land the plane so we can get a better look."

The pilot slowly brings the Tornado down. We eventually land some distance away from the water's edge. I jump off the plane, followed by Knuckles then Tails.

"I seriously doubt that Sonic's down there taking a swim." Knuckles dips his foot into the water and shivers. "Man that's cold…"

I bend down the touch the water also only to hold back a shudder. "It isn't that cold." I say standing back up. The Ultimate Lifeform doesn't show weakness to anyone. Pretty sure it's a law somewhere.

"Of _course_ it isn't…" The echidna rolls his eyes.

"Guys, it doesn't matter how cold the water is. What matters is that we have to get the emerald." Tails steps closer to the water. I hold my arm out in front of him and he looks at me curiously.

"You should wait here Tails. You're…not the best at swimming like Knuckles and I are, so stay dry."

The kit stares at me for a couple more moments before backing away from the edge. "You're right Shadow. I'll just stay with the Tornado and see if it can pinpoint more emeralds." He jogs back over to the plane while I get even closer to the water, along with Knuckles.

"On three?" He suggests and I just grunt. Knuckles shakes his head and turns to the water. "Guess that's a yes. One, two…three!"

We both take a deep breath and dive into the surprisingly clear water; I almost gasp when the cold sends a violent shiver down my spine. I glance over to Knuckles to see him grinning victoriously at me. With my body getting used to the not-so-warm temperature, I ignore him and swim deeper into the lake. I go to one side as Knuckles travels to the other, to cover more area. I end up losing sight of him, that's how big this body of water is.

After searching under numerous stones and shifting through sand, my lungs start to burn. I propel myself up to the surface and take a big breath of much needed oxygen. It wasn't anywhere I looked; I'm going to have to go deeper.

I tread the water for a few more seconds before diving under again, to swim deeper than before. It gets harder to see as I pass my last searching spot. However, it would make it easier to see the glow of whatever colored gem it is. When I get to the bottom, my hands in front of my face are barely visible. I overturn more rocks and shift through more sand only to feel something run against my leg. Startled, I snap my head up and try to see in the darkness what in the hell that just touched me. It again rubs against me, my arm this time.

I know this isn't Knuckles, he wouldn't play at a time like this. My eyes shift back and forth, hoping to catch a glimpse of the thing. I inwardly curse as the unknown creature nips at my left leg.

Time to go back up.

I quickly kick my legs to hurry to swim up to the surface. More sharp teeth bite at my legs and I'm positive they've drawn blood. The underwater world gets brighter and I glance behind me to see what my adversaries are. My eyes widen multiple piranhas stare right back at me.

Shit! Why are piranhas in a _lake_ anyway?!

Kicking one that had gotten too close to my leg, I swim double time to the surface; my lungs are starting to beg for air again. Reaching the surface, I yell out in pain as one particularly hungry fish grabs my leg and doesn't let go no matter how feverously I shake the appendage.

Seeing that was getting me nowhere, I turn around in the water and pry open the jaws until it lets go. After swimming like my life depended on it, I make it to dry ground and hear Tails running over to me.

"Shadow! Are you ok? What happened?"

Sitting down in the sand, I examine my legs. Nothing but I few little punctures from those sharp teeth little devils. "I'm fine Tails." I pause realizing we are missing a person. "Where's Knuckles?"

Tails' eyes roam over the surface of the lake, searching. "I don't see him! The last time I saw him was when he came up for air about two minutes ago!" He nervously plays with his tail again. I stand up and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down. I'll go back in and find him." The fox's eyes widen.

"W-Wait! What if-" He doesn't get to finish his sentence because the missing teammate we were just talking about crawls out the water farther down the shore than we are. "Knuckles!" Tails spins his namesakes to propel himself faster over to the echidna and I follow at a slower pace.

When we get to him, Tails examines Knuckles for any injuries. "Are you alright?"

Knuckles winces when Tails touches an open cut. "I'm fine." He then glances over to my legs. "Looks like they got to you too, huh?" I nod in response. "But that's ok though." He holds up a glowing white emerald. "Because I found this." Tails jumps up and claps his hands.

"Woo! We got another one! Four more to go!" Tails grabs the gem and takes off, using his namesakes again, towards the Tornado. I let out a small smile at the kit's antics and help Knuckles stand up.

"Thanks." Grunting, I make my way to the airplane with Knuckles close behind complaining under his breath about sand stuck in the worst places.

We reach Tails as soon as he slips the emerald in its holder. He looks intently at the screen until a dot shows up. His face lights up. "We got another one guys!" He beckons us to get on the plane and we do so to get a closer look at the screen. "This one'll take us a while to get to, but it should be easy to spot. The radar shows that it's just in the middle of a desert northeast of here." I inwardly sigh in relief when the location has the absence of water.

"How long is 'a while' Tails? It isn't going to take all day is it?" Knuckles asks brushing the last bit of sand off himself.

The young pilot shakes his head. "Maybe an hour. Give or take ten minutes."

"Looks like I'm gonna have to get _real_ comfortable in that back seat."

Tails chuckles, then turns to me. "You are going to be alright riding on the wing the whole way? You could probably fit back there with Knuckles…" I shake my head.

"I'll be fine on the wing. You don't have to worry about me." Knuckles sighs in relief while Tails nods and turns back to the plane controls.

"Alright, if you're sure." Knuckles plops down in his seat as I take my position on the wing. "Well then, let's get this show on the road!" Looks like Sonic's got to go attitude is rubbing off on Tails. Hopefully nothing else transfers over to the kit. We don't need two overly cocky beings running around here.

The Tornado starts to rumble again and soon we all are in the air, heading for the desert that Sonic is possibly, not likely, sunbathing in. During the flight, the temperature rises as does the sun. Wiping a bit of sweat off my forehead, I glace over to Knuckles. He is sprawled out all over the back seat snoring. How he managed to get comfortable like that I would never know. Looking at Tails, I have a mini-heart attack when I see him sleeping only to calm down when I realize that we haven't fallen out of the sky yet.

The plane is on auto-pilot.

My hand drops from my once rapidly beating heart and I sigh. What am I being worried for? I would be able to land perfectly fine from this height. I glance down only to snap my eyes back to the front.

Maybe not _perfectly_.

The sun reaches its high point in the sky as the trees start to disappear. Tails eventually wakes up from his nap to take back control of the small plane. "From the looks of it, we only have about ten minutes to go. Sonic might be there, doing something. What do you think Shadow?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Honestly?" He stares at me expectantly. "He's not going to be there. He has no reason to be in a desert." The kit's ears droop, but he nods nonetheless.

"I've been thinking the same thing…" I'm starting to feel bad for the kid. Sonic is the only 'family' the fox has and now he's missing. "At least we're getting another emerald. No more are showing up on the screen besides that one."

I nod even though he is looking straight ahead and we fall into comfortable silence. The temperature continues to rise and sweat dips down my face. There is now sand surrounding us for miles in every direction. "Tails!" I call. "Are we near it yet?"

"As a matter of fact," Said fox is checking the screen as the beeps get louder. "we're right over it!" He starts to lower the plane.

"Wait Tails." The kit eyes me curiously. "Let me drop down. It'll take time to keep on landing and taking off. Plus, I want to stretch my legs."

"Alright." Tails glances behind himself, seeing a knocked out Knuckles. "Looks like you're gonna have to do this by yourself, or do you want me to wake him?"

I wave him off. "I don't need him this time and let him rest." Which I want to go back home to do, but no…

The fox digs around the front seat for something. "Ah ha! Found 'em! Here." He tosses me an object, then holds one identical to it in his hand. "We can use these walkie-talkies to communicate. I doubt we could hear each other with you on the ground and me up here."

I give the kit a small smile. "Good thinking." I complement positioning myself for the jump.

"Before you go, let me lower the plane some more. Don't want you breaking your neck or something." Tails mutters the last part as the Tornado dips down some. "There, I think it's safe now."

Nodding, I position myself once more. After counting to three in my head, I jump. The dry desert winds whip across my face and I can feel it drying out. About half way down to the ground, a strong gust of wind knocks me off balance and I go tumbling head over heels towards the sand.

"Oh fu-"

My mouth is filled with hot, dry sand at this point.

Groaning, I peel my face up out of the grains and sit up. Spitting out the foreign substance, the walkie in my hand is going off. I bring up to my ear and press the button. "Shadow! You sure took a tumble there. You're not hurt are you?"

I hear the laughter in his voice and I scoff. "Ha ha, very funny." Standing up, I dust myself off. "But yeah, I'm fine."

Tails snickers. "You should've seen it from up here! One second, you were falling normally, then you just started to tumble-"

"Tails…"

He coughs. "Ok back to business. This one shouldn't be hard to find. It's either the dark blue, light blue, green, or purple, and those really stand out against all the yellow sand."

I put up my unoccupied hand to shield my eyes from the harsh sun. Searching around, I see the very, _very _faint glow of the purple emerald in the distance on a sand dune. "Tails."

"Yeah?"

"I already see one in the distance, the purple one. Do you see it?" There is a short pause.

"Yes! I see it! Three more to go after this one!" I lift my finger of the button to cut the connection. Activating my skates, I dash in the direction of the gem. My eyes narrow as the winds pick up the sand and at the speed I'm going, it feels like little paper cuts on my face.

It takes about two minutes for me to get to the emerald. It's just sitting out in the open on top of the sand. I'm just glad I don't have to shift through it like I had to in the lake. I bring the walkie up to my mouth. "Got it Tails. I'm about to Chaos Control back up there to you."

"Roger!"

"Chaos Control!"

The next thing I know, I'm on the wing of the airplane. Balancing, I make my way over to Tails. He smiles brightly as he gets the emerald. "Another step closer to finding Sonic!" He shouts.

"Huh? What?" Knuckles wipes his eyes and yawns. "What's going on? And why is it so da…ng hot?"

"Well Knuckles, we just got the forth gem! That means Sonic has to be were any one of the three are! We're getting closer! Oh, and it's hot because we are sorta in the middle of a desert."

Knuckles takes in the view. "That would explain it. So, where to now?"

"Let's see…" Tails examines the screen. He then almost jumps out of his seat with excitement and shock.

"What is it?" I ask, wondering what had caused such extreme reaction.

"There are two emeralds close to each other on the screen!"

"Seriously?!" Knuckles leans up in his seat to look at the radar himself. "You aren't joking! If Sonic isn't near those two, I'm gonna eat my glove!" I inwardly chuckle, watch Sonic be were the last gem is.

"But where are they?" Tails glances at me then scratches his head nervously.

"They are in the middle of a field about two hours from here."

Two _hours_? Oh hell no.

I turn to face Knuckles. "My turn."

"Your turn to do what?" He questions.

"To be in that seat. You just woke up from a nap, so you can bare to stand for two hours. I need some rest."

"But-"

I just cross my arms and glare at him.

Knuckles sighs. "Fine." He climbs out of the seat and I, with a victorious smirk, take my spot behind Tails. Ah…it feels good to sit down.

"You ready Knuckles?"

"Yeah." The red echidna grumbles, crossing his arms.

"Ok, here we go!" Tails turns the plane sharply and I hide a grin when Knuckles almost falls off the wing. It's not as easy as it looks.

After entertaining myself by watching Knuckles try to keep his balance for five minutes, I fall asleep.

I jolt awake by the semi-rough landing of the plane.

"What's going on?"

Looking over to Knuckles, I see him frowning. "Well, it seems like the next two emeralds are in one of Eggman's labs. Tails had to land last second because he didn't want to be spotted." My eyes snap away from Knuckles to the building in the distance. This day just keeps getting better and better.

"Yeah, and another issue is that he most likely has Sonic trapped in there too." Tails adds, cutting off the plane. He turns around to face us. "So, what's the plan?"

"We just go in, take the emeralds, get Sonic, and hightail it out of there." Knuckles suggests.

We just stare at him, then Tails looks back at me. "So, what's the plan?" He repeats, ignoring a sharp 'hey!' from Knuckles.

I think for a second. "I say we get up on the roof and try to search for some vents. I know it's cliché, but it's the best thing right now since we don't know what's on the inside. We find the room holding the emeralds, figure out if Sonic is even in there, and get out before the doctor notices."

"See Knuckles? That's a plan."

"Whatever, he just said what I said."

"But, his has a less chance of us getting spotted."

Knuckles just glares, not coming up with a comeback.

I stand up and jump off the plane. "Now it should be easy getting on the roof, the building is looking just like a factory." After glancing back to see Knuckles and Tails jump off as well, I start forwards towards the lab.

"There are no robots patrolling the outside, so we should be safe." Tails says beside me.

I nod and Knuckles chuckles. "All the easier for us."

We make it to the side of the building; I run up the side as Tails flies and while Knuckles climbs with his namesakes. At the top, we search for an opening for a vent somewhere. After a moment of looking, Knuckles speaks up. "Hey, I think I found something!" Tails and I make our way over to him to find a grate with cool air blowing out. I bend down to look into it.

"This is it. Can you take the gate off Knuckles?"

"Who do you think I am?" Scoffing, he proceeds to rip of the covering making it clatter on the roof. Tails and I glare at him. He holds his hands up. "Sorry, my bad! Geez…"

Sighing, I jump down and crawl up some to let Tails and Knuckles have some room to follow. Tails jumps down next then Knuckles, bringing up the rear. "Be as quiet as you can." I whisper.

"Right." Tails responds and Knuckles nods showing that he had heard. With that, I continue forwards along the vents. Every once in a while there is an opening below to enter some rooms which are occupied by robots. Why am I not surprised?

As we pass by another one of these openings, Knuckles sneezes. Two robots below stop patrolling for a second. They look around before looking up, exactly where I'm visible through the gate. One of the two pushes something I can't see to the side and alarms start to go off.

"_**Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!"**_

I look back and growl. "_Dammit_ Knuckles!" Tails' ears flatten on his head, but I ignore him. "Seriously!?"

Said echidna rubs his nose. "My bad! It's dusty in here!"

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before I jump over Tails to strangle the red idiot. "Ok, here's the new plan. Tails, while we clear the way of any robots, you check the rooms to see if you can find the emeralds and/or Sonic."

"Ok, I'll do my best!" As soon as Tails says that, I kick open the cover and jump down to the floor, already taking down robots as they enter the hallway we are in. Knuckles jumps down after Tails to help with the destroying. Once all the robots in the hallway are dismembered, we quickly continue down the hallway checking doors.

Eventually, more robots show up so Knuckles and I leave the doors to Tails. When the second wave is taken care of, Tails finds a door that refuses to open. I walk up to it. "Chaos Spear!" The door doesn't even stand a chance as it is knocked off its hinges.

We all pack into the room to see the dark blue and green emeralds sealed in containers. I take a step forward to get them only to be stopped by a laugh. We all turn around to find Eggman sitting in a chair, back facing us.

"Ho Ho! I knew you would come for the emeralds, pesky rodent." He slowly turns around. "I've planned this, and that's why- uh…what?" He is now looking at the three of us in confusion. "Um…where's…"

"Where's Sonic?!" Tails asks shouting at the doctor.

Said man scratches his head. "I should be asking y'all the same question!"

Knuckles leans back in shock. "Wait. You don't have him locked up somewhere?"

"No, no I don't. I thought you he was breaking in, not you three!"

I cross my arms and glare at him. "I don't believe you."

"You don't believe me?! Well, I guess that's reasonable…but fine. I'll have to show you then!" Eggman presses a button on the arm rest and his chair floats up while the rest of the ground, besides the part we are standing on, gives out. It is then replaced by water. And he showed us this, why?

"You know we can swim, right?" Knuckles asks.

Eggman sighs and throws his arms up in exasperation. "I _know _that! The trap was meant for Sonic!"

"Oh…because he can't swim."

"Yes!" The doctor gestures at Tails, looking at me. "See? The fox gets it! I was going to trap Sonic and make him watch me finish the giant robot I've started on, which he couldn't do anything about! The gems were just a…distraction…I just told you my plan, didn't I?"

"Yeah. And since you are no threat right now…" I don't even finish my thought before I dive into the water. After breaking the surface, I see the doctor still staring in shock. What? Did he expect me to just stand there?

When I get to the emeralds, I easily break the glass. Holding the gems in my hands, I look over to Tails and Knuckles still on the platform. "You two hurry and leave." They both stare for a moment before nodding knowingly. Knuckles swims for the door while Tails flies across the water. He looks back at me.

"Be careful!" Then they both leave.

I turn to the confused floating man. "What are you gonna-"

"Chaos…" I mutter, closing my eyes.

"Oh no! Time to get the hell out of dodge!" I hear the man leave the room and travel down the hallway, then focus on the emeralds in my hands.

"BLAST!" Chaos energy explodes out of me and the resulting noise makes my ears ring. This is why is don't do chaos blast often. When they stop ringing, I open my eyes to see the building in shambles. No walls are left standing, the roof disappeared, and there are bits of debris raining from the sky.

"NOOO!" I turn around and look up. Eggman is in his same hover chair a ways up. "That took me a month to build! Now I have to start all over!"

Scoffing, I turn away from him and make my way back to where the Tornado is. "That isn't my problem."

"Ugh! I'll get you back for this! Probably…" His voice fades away as Eggman leaves the premises.

After stepping over and on countless scattered robot bodies littered all over the place, I get the plane where Tails and Knuckles are waiting unharmed. The latter eyes me, then chuckles.

"For a second there, I thought we weren't going to get out in time."

I roll my eyes. "I gave you plenty to get out."

"I was still nervous man! Look at that! You decimated the place!"

"Wait a second, Sonic wasn't in there. Time to get to eating." Smirking, I watch Knuckles' reaction.

He stares at me like I've grown two heads. His eyes widen when it downs on him. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about." He says breaking eye contact.

"_Sure_ you don't." I mock his same tone from earlier before.

"If you're done, we need to find the last emerald that will lead us to Sonic!" The kit's eyes sparkle with excitement. "Shadow, if you please." I place the two emeralds in Tails' waiting hands. "Here comes the moment of truth guys!" He places the gems in the holder, and we anxiously wait for the screen to pick up where the last emerald, more importantly Sonic, is located. After a couple of seconds, the screen goes black.

Of course. Of _course_ something like _this_ would happen!

"W-What?" Tails stutters out.

"What happened to it Tails!?"

"I don't know Knuckles! I-It should've told us where the next gem is!"

Sighing, I take a deep breath. "Tails, can you fix it?"

The fox looks at me with wide eyes, then back to the unresponsive radar. "I could, if I had all my tools with me, which are all at my house."

"That's gonna be a long flight…" Knuckles mutters.

"We have no other option but to go back if we want to find where Sonic is."

"You're right." Tails cranks up the plane. "Everybody in positions." Knuckles quickly takes back his seat in the back while I take my place on the wing again. "Here we go!" The plane lifts off and we go homeward bound.

The plane touches down at Tails' house around five o'clock. As soon as he cuts off the engine, Tails rushes inside the house only to come out minutes later with his toolbox. He climbs back into the plane and glances at us. "Can you two stay just in case I get this fixed today? I have food in the fridge."

"Sure, I'm pretty sure the Master emerald is safe for the time being. And I could go for some grub!" Knuckles hops down from the place and enters the house.

"Shadow?"

I shake my head. "I don't know Tails, Knuckles should be more than enough hel-" He whips out those puppy eyes again. Damn.

That's why I'm in the fox's living room with Knuckles watching TV eating ham sandwiches drinking orange soda. Speaking of the two-tailed Mobian, he's been outside working on the plane for five hours. I don't even know why he can't wait until tomorrow, but that kid's persistent. And yes, I just now got hungry even after being here for that long of a time.

The echidna was stuffing his face when I walked in. He then entertained himself like he did in the morning, with the baseball. Now, Knuckles is surfing the channels for something to watch.

"I wish Tails would hurry up and fix that radar already." I silently agree with him, gulping down the soda. "Wonder what made it stop working anyway. It was working fine until one emerald was-" We both turn to the depressed Tails looking at the floor coming through the door. "What's wrong Tails?"

He glances up with moist eyes. "I couldn't fix it…now we'll never find Sonic…" Knuckles goes over to the sobbing kit and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, Tails, it'll be ok. We'll find him."

"H-How?" Knuckles turns his head towards me, waiting for an answer. Sigh, guess I have to think of something. Hm, wait. If I use my ability to sense emeralds (which I could've used to my advantage today, oh well) while holding the six gems all at once, maybe I could Chaos Control to where Sonic is with his emerald. It might be crazy enough to work. I explain my plan to Knuckles and Tails.

The latter dries his tears. "That may work! But, you'll have to go alone."

"Yeah, it wouldn't work for all of us. We don't have the same ability he does." Knuckles states.

I nod and head for the door, the other two following. Outside, the full moon shines brightly making the surrounding area have a soft glow. At the plane, I jump up into the pilot seat and take out the six emeralds. Placing them all in my arms, I get down from the Tornado and stand in front of Tails and Knuckles.

"Bring back Sonic!" The former determinately shouts, pumping his fist.

"Yeah, but be careful out there." The other warns. "You don't know what kind of situation Sonic's in right now, as unpredictable as he is."

A smirk forms on my face without my consent. "I'll keep that in mind."

He returns the gesture and waves his hand. "Get on with it then! Don't want to keep blue waiting."

I step back from the two, nodding. Closing my eyes, the energy from all six emeralds flow into my body. It slowly spreads throughout my system. "Here goes nothing…" I mutter under my breath.

"Chaos Control!"


	19. Chapter 19

**Sasuke: He's not going where I think he's going, is he?**

**Sonic: (grins brightly) Looks like it!**

**Sasuke: (puts head in his hands) Another person?! How cramped in my house going to get?**

**Sonic: (shugs) Dunno, but the more the merrier, right?**

**Sasuke: (rubs temples) I swear I'm going to end up crazy after all this is over.**

**Sonic: (ruffles Sasuke's hair) I don't blame you if you do!**

**Sasuke: (glares and fixes hair) Can you stop doing that?!**

**Shadow**

Shadow POV

The first thing I notice is that the warp took _way_ too long. I've Chaos controlled to many places and never has it ever taken this long to teleport. Maybe something went wrong and I didn't even go anywhere. Did I use too much power? Too little? I don't even-

My thoughts derail as I pop back into existence inside a room I've never seen in my life. The room isn't that spectacular; its grey walls and boring furniture don't help brighten up the place. There is something that bothers me though. The atmosphere here…it isn't wrong, but just different. It's just a weird feeling I have.

Glancing around, I see a window, a nightstand, and a bed with a lump underneath the covers. Dumping the gems on the nightstand, I go over to the mysterious lump and poke it. No response. I shrug, must be pillows or something.

Curious to where I am, I shuffle over to the window to see if anything looks familiar. My eyes widen as they soak in the area. This place is a mystery to me, and I've been almost everywhere. Also, it might be a trick of the moonlight, but do the trees seem _duller_? I close my eyes and shake my head. I'm just sleep deprived. It is around midnight, anyone would be delusional about right now. And the worse part of it is that Sonic isn't even here.

*Snore*

Every muscle in my body freezes. Very slowly, I turn my head and look at the bed where the noise came from. Staring intensely at the lump under the sheets again, I can barely make out the rise and fall of the blanket in the dark room. Why haven't I noticed that before?

The lump doesn't make any more noise; for a while, I just stand there staring at the hidden person. Curiosity overruling common sense, I quietly tip-toe back over to the side of the bed. Now the soft intakes of breath are easily heard and again, why didn't I hear this the first time?

With cautious movements, my hand slowly reaches up to pull the cover back. Just a little bit to take a peek at who the sleeper is. Then I would leave this place and find my way back to my cozy apartment, but I got to know first so I won't regret not looking for the next week and a half.

Pulling back the covers carefully, dark and course fur are first to appear. I pause, waiting to see if the disturbance had woken the person up. No movement besides the sounds of even breathing.

Holding my breath, I take a risk and pull the covers down even more, wanting to see the face. Slowly lifting the sheets, furry ears pop out and eventually a face makes an appearance. I choke on my own spit.

"S-Sonic?" I whisper. It's a miracle I could even say his name while my throat is seizing.

The hairy beast laying in the bed shifts and mumbles something incomprehensibly before falling back into a deep sleep. Taking a couple steps back, I rub my eyes, blink, and glance at the Sonic look-like again. It's him, but isn't at the same time. Sighing, I rub my temples and turn my back to the bed, walking towards the nightstand to gather the emeralds.

"That can't be him, no way. My brain is trying to function even with the lack of sleep, and it's failing. That's it." Shaking my head, I look out the window. "Now for my next plan of action…"

The bed creaks and I freeze yet again. In my peripherals, the nameless Mobian rubs his eyes. "Huh? Who's there?" His voice is deep and raspy, but familiar. It _can't_ be… "Sasuke? Naruto? Is that you?" And who in the hell are those two? Slumping my shoulders in defeat, I turn around to face the stranger. Can't leave without some kind of explanation to why a random someone was creeping around in their room at midnight.

Facing the beast head on, said furball gasps and his eyes widen. "Shadow? It's you!" He quickly jumps out of the bed with the speed of only one other person I know, and hugs the living daylights out of me, the six gems dropping to the floor. I'm lifted off the ground and swung back and forth, smashed against Sonic's (he is the only person who as the _nerve _to do this) chest. My arms raise to push myself away, but I don't budge an inch. Looks like he has grabbed some extra strength from somewhere.

And the new height difference doesn't help much.

"Faker." I growl, but it is muffled by his thick fur. So I say it louder.

"Sonic!"

He hears this time and stops swinging. "Yeah?"

"Invading…personal…space. Let. Go."

He quickly drops me and steps back a couple feet. Sonic nervously chuckles. "Hehe, sorry about that."

After smoothing out my quills, I cross my arms and glare at him. "Fine. Just don't ever do that again."

He gives his signature thumbs up. "I'll keep that in mind next time!"

My eyes lose their glare and is replaced by mild interest. I gesture to his body. "So, what's with the strength and extra fur?"

Sonic looks at himself like he had forgotten his current form. He copies my stance and sighs. "Well, long story short. The Chaos emerald I have on me right now kinda went dead after a freak accident." He reaches into his white-tipped navy quills to pull out the missing emerald from yesterday's search. And he is right, the gem does look dead. It's dull and I can't feel any energy radiating off of it. I hold my hand out.

"Let me see it." Sonic pulls the emerald towards him. He glances back and forth between me and the rock. I sigh. "Sonic, I'm not going to steal you're precious emerald. I just want to look at it." My counterpart still seems hesitant, but he eventually tosses me the gem. I catch it only to see Sonic eyeing me like he is expecting something to happen. After a moment of awkward staring, he breathes a sigh of relief. I raise an eyebrow. "What was that about?"

He just waves his hand dismissively. "It isn't important anymore."

I shake my head, ousting the strange behavior. My eyes examine the once glowing cyan gem. Its appearance hasn't changed besides the fact that it is as luminous as a blown light bulb. While it is in my hands, no energy flows through me; it's the same as holding a diamond.

Sonic comes closer. "Anything?"

Handing him back the emerald, I answer. "Nothing."

"Damn." His ears flatten against his head.

"So, how does that gem have anything to do with how you are now?"

Sonic perks up. "Oh yeah, I was telling a story. Ok, so when it died, I went to go touch it. When I did, pain that I don't feel like describing to you right now coursed through me and I passed out. I woke up fine, but at dusk I turn into a werehog. It's so annoying!" He throws his arms into the air. "I thought this would be gone the first time I go rid of it."

That last sentence peaks my curiosity. "The first time?"

He scratches his nose. "Yeah. Remember when the earth was separated into pieces?"

I tilt my head a bit in confusion. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Sonic's eyes widen. "Really?"

"Really."

"…"

"…"

The werehog tosses the gem in between his massive hands. "Well, I changed into this form back then. Now it's back and I don't know how to get rid of it again." I've got an idea that might work.

Glancing down at the glowing emeralds on the floor, I pick up the red one. Walking up to Sonic, I hold the gem up to him. Said Mobian raises an eyebrow; I point to his emerald. "Hold yours up to touch mine. Maybe the active emerald's energy would make the other spark back to life."

Sonic grins wolfishly at me. "Great idea Shads!" Ugh, I wish he'll stop calling me that. "And maybe I would go back to my regular form!"

I nod. "Maybe."

The werehog holds out his gem and as soon as the emeralds touch, a bright light fills the room. It continues for a couple seconds and I have to shield my eyes. The whiteness finally fades. After blinking a few times to regain focus, I see Sonic looking at the now luminous sky blue gem in his hand with poorly restrained glee.

"Yes!" He pumps his fist. "It worked!" Sonic chuckles. "Now I can show the oth-" Sonic is cut off by his own yelp of pain. Still holding the emerald, his arms start to tremble as he falls to his knees. What the hell?! I quickly kneel to get down to his level and put my hands on his shoulders.

"Sonic? What's happening to you?" I say shaking his shoulders a bit. A low, pained groan is my only answer. Then his body starts to tremble violently; I back away with wide eyes. What am I supposed to do?

Glancing down at the held emerald, I'm surprised even further to see some dark substance being expelled from Sonic's arms. It floats in the air then disappears, like smoke. After staring in shock at the mysterious smoke for a while, it finally dissipates from the air and stops coming out of Sonic's body. He closes his eyes and collapses on the floor, the gem rolling over by my feet.

Not really trusting the questionable emerald right now, I kick it over to where the rest of its look-alikes are. I focus back on the unconscious Sonic laying on the floor, who is still shaking. I'm about to get closer to him until the sick noise of bones cracking reaches my ears. I flinch at the sound and fold my ears against my head.

I watch in horror and fascination as the rough, dark fur is replaced with the more familiar light blue when the popping continues on. The nails and sharp teeth shrink back to normal size as well. Fifteen seconds past and everything is silent.

I hesitantly go back up to Sonic, kneeling in front of him again. "Sonic. Sonic, wake up." Why am I even doing this? He's out cold for Christ's sake! After getting no reaction from my constant nudging, I sigh and stand up. No point in even continuing.

Glancing around the room, the emeralds are still scattered on the floor. Might as well pick them up. I gather the six and experimentally touch the cyan one. Nothing extraordinary happens, so I pick that one up also and place them on the aforementioned nightstand by the bed.

Hearing a soft snore behind me, I glance at Sonic sleeping, apparently _not _unconscious, on the floor. Shaking my head, I go over and pick him up bridal style to carry him to the bed. After dropping him unceremoniously on the mattress, I yawn. Hm, the bed's big enough for the two of us…but if Sonic's a cuddler, I could make a broken arm look like an accident.

Walking around to the other side of the bed, I get in and pull the covers over me and Sonic. Laying down with my back to the sleeping figure, my eyelids droop closed. Then they quickly open back up and glace over of Sonic. On second thought…I turn around and push Sonic all the way to the other edge of the bed. Content at the distance between us, I turn back around. As my eyelids close again, I think about if Sonic rolls over once, he'll be having a date with the floor.

Oh well.

**The next morning**

Sonic POV

Ugh, man. Why does it feel like I got hit by a truck twice after running a marathon? What did I even do yesterday to deserve this? Let's see…I woke up, left to explore Konoha, got chased around by fangirls, ate ramen, entertained some kids, got chased around some _more _by fangirls, tried and loved dango, took a nap on top of the neighboring mountain, told my tales to others, played truth or dare (let's just say, I do _not_ look good in a dress), fell asleep, got woken back up by Shadow…

Oh my God! Shadow was here last night!

I sit up like a rocket in my bed and open my eyes only to have my vision swim and muscles scream in pain. To top it all off, I also feel a migraine coming along.

Groaning, I slowly lower myself to lay fully on the mattress again. Sighing in relief when the effects of my rashness decrease a bit, my eyes glance to the side. Shadow is beside me, still peacefully sleeping. I snicker to myself, he must be out cold if that didn't wake him!

Wait a second, he coming here doesn't explain why I'm so sore all over. My eyes shift to the other side of me and they widen. The Chaos emeralds! That's right, Shadow fixed mine!

I zero in on the light blue gem on the stand. Lastly, I remember pain and nothing else. Similar to the time where I touched it when it first turned dark. So does that mean I'm cleared? I examine my arms to see them normal, like yesterday morning. I could've transformed in my sleep unknowingly. There's no way to know right now.

Alright, let's try this again. I _slowly_ sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed. Not smelling any signs of breakfast, I check the clock. Ten o'clock? Yeah, the others didn't really have an agenda today, so they wouldn't get up early. A grin makes its way across my face. Perfect time to show Shadow the place!

Jumping up, I grab my emerald and make my way over to the other side of the bed where Shads is sleeping. I bend down and shake his shoulder. "Hey Shadow…" I sing song and said hedgehog cracks one eye open. "It's time to get up, bud! It's time for a tour!"

He glares at me, but yawns and sits up anyway, wiping his eyes. "What in the hell are you talking about? A tour of what?" I roll my eyes and put my hand on my hip.

"The place I've been staying at of course! Now get your ass up and follow me!" I walk towards the door and turn around to face an irritated Shadow. I jab my thumb over to the gem collection by the bed. "Don't forget to grab your gem. Never know when you're gonna need it! I sure have…" I say the last part under my breath, but Shadow still hears me. He raises a curious brow.

"You've needed it?" I wave him off.

"I'll tell you all the details after the tour."

Shadow just stares for a moment before getting his red emerald. "Idiot…" He mutters under his breath.

"Hey! I heard that!" I glare at him while he smirks.

"You were supposed to. Now aren't you gonna show me this house of yours?" The black hedgehog gestures to the door.

I sigh and open the door. "It's not really mine, but whatever." I can actually feel the inquiring gaze aimed at the back of my head as we walk out of my room and down the hallway.

"Then who's is it?"

"It belongs to a friend." Which isn't a lie _exactly._ Sasuke became a friend after I came here. Before he asks anymore questions, we reach the kitchen. I spread my arms out wide. "This here, if you didn't already know, is the kitchen. May as well be the most important room in the house." Shadow grunts and I get the urge to roll my eyes. Did I expect anything less?

I point to the table in the middle of the room. "That's where me and the others eat breakfast and dinner." Glancing over to Shadow, he is staring at the table intently.

"Others? There are more than one here?"

I grin. "Yeah! But you'll meet them when they wake up." After gesturing him to follow, we go into the living room. "This is where we hang out if there isn't anything to do." I sit down at my spot on the small couch. "This where I usually sit. And it's funny, this is where I was when I got dared to wear-" I glance up to were Shadow is standing and want desperately to disappear in the couch.

He is glaring daggers at me.

"Why are you here?" I gulp nervously.

"Uh…what?"

He narrows his eyes even further and crosses his arms. "I didn't stutter."

Rubbing the back of my head nervously, I respond. "Well, I just kinda showed up and-"

"Just showed up? Without telling anyone that you left?" Shadow's voice is starting to raise in volume.

I hold my hands up. "It was some spontaneous thing! I didn't mean to leave-"

"You didn't _mean _to? You came here on your own will!" He is nearly shouting now.

"Whoa! Calm down Shads! Why are you so worked up?"

Shadow starts to shout. "Why am I so worked up!?" He then collects himself by breathing in deeply and letting it out. He now begins to talk softly. "Yesterday, I had to go through a piranha infested lake, a hot desert, and break into one of Eggman's labs. All of that was to look for your ass who was just relaxing here." I think I liked it better when he was yelling…

Shadow then chuckles humorlessly to himself. "And remember Tails? Your little _brother_?" I wince and the black hedgehog's voice begins to raise again. "Dammit Sonic! He was crying, no _sobbing,_ when we didn't find you! And that was just yesterday! He was worried most of the week wondering where you were! Did you even think about him, about _all_ your friends, at all?"

Now I am starting to feel bad. I never even thought about how the others at home felt about me missing. My eyes shift from Shadow to the floor. "I did…think about them…sometimes." I glance back up. "But you don't understand! I-"

"I don't understand?!" He gets closer and points a gloved finger straight into my face. "No, _you_ don't understand. Everybody-" The ranting hedgehog then freezes in his movements with his eyes wide. He glances down at his body.

"Uh, Shadow?" I wave a hand in front of his face to regain his attention. "You ok?" His eyes shift back to mine, but it's weird, nothing else on his body is moving. His hand is still in my face.

"…" He just stares.

"…" It's starting to freak me out.

"…" Not moving an inch.

"Sha-"

"Sonic." He says, cutting me off. "Why in the hell can't I move?"

I look at him confused. "You can't…move…?"

"No."

"But why can't-"

"That's what I'm asking you."

I stare at Shadow for a while until it clicks. I peek around his frozen body only to see all of the others' eyes shifting between me and Shads in shock or awe. Shikamaru's hands are in the same position as when I was fighting him in the clearing. There is a dark shadow connecting him to mister grumpy. I grin and start to chuckle as I look back at Shadow. "Seems like you've woken up my roommates." His eyes widen.

I wave at the group. "Hey, guys. Good morning!"

"Good morning…Sonic…" Kiba and the others awkwardly wave back. The grin widens as I pointedly ignore Shadow.

"So Sakura, what's gonna be for breakfast?"

The pink haired girl just stares dumbly. "Uh…"

"Back to my question, _Sonic_." Shadow growls. "Why in the _hell_ can't I move?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot." I say innocently. Shadow glares death at me this time. "Shikamaru there behind you is keeping you from moving."

"Well tell that little _idiot_ to _let me go._" There is a collective gasp from the ninja in the room and Naruto angrily stomps his way in front of the still frozen Shadow.

"You, whoever you are, _cannot_ talk that way to my friend!"

Shadow looks at Naruto in wonder. "You're human."

Naruto crosses his arms and gives him a 'duh' look.

"That means that the other kid holding me is a human too…"

Naruto warily eyes Shadow. "Uh, yeah."

Shadow stares for another moment, then scoffs. His face returning to one of anger. "_You_ sure as hell can't tell me what I can and can't do." Naruto is about to explode, but Sasuke then strides over.

When he gets in front of Shadow, he glares at him. "You can't either. This is _my_ house. You have no authority here." Oh no, here comes the clash of personalities. "Say please and we might think about letting you go."

"Get out of my face." Shadow lowly growls.

Sasuke continues to glare, not intimidated at all. In fact, he bends down to get even closer to Shads' face. "Make me."

The tension in the room rises sky high so much that if I reach out, I would be able to touch it. Looking back and forth between the black quilled hedgehog and raven haired genin, they are glaring at each other like there is no tomorrow. If looks could kill…hell! Both of them would be a pile of ashes on the floor by now!

Shifting my attention away from the intense staring contest, I see all the other ninja sweat dropping. Except Kakashi, who is examining Shadow very intensely and not reading his book. What is going on in his head?

"Fine." Surprised, I swiftly turn back to the battle at hand to see Shadow close his eyes and take a deep breath. He opens his eyes and looks up at Sasuke. Is that a ghost of a smirk on his face?

Sasuke, who obviously doesn't see what I see, grins victoriously. "Go ahead then."

"Can you please let me go?"

Sasuke tsks. "I'm not the one holding you, Shikamaru is."

"_Shikamaru,_ can you please let me go?" He grits out.

The raven glances at me. "Is it safe to let him go?"

I snicker and wave dismissively. "It's fine. He wouldn't hurt a fly." Which is _complete_ bull, but I don't want to share that type of information with the others right now.

"In that case…" Sasuke peers over Shadow. "Shikamaru, you can release him."

"This stay has gotten even more troublesome…" He mutters as he releases his shadow jutsu. I smile to myself. Shadow got trapped in a shadow.

Said hedgehog drops his arm and straightens up. He looks at Sasuke with a smirk for everyone to see. Faster than anyone could blink, Shadow pulls out a gun from absolutely _nowhere_ and points it directly in between Sasuke's eyes. Maybe I should've warned them…

All the ninja, including Sasuke himself, look at the gun in confusion.

"What is this thing?" The raven haired ninja asks.

Shadow chuckles darkly. "Move and find out." No no no no no _no_! I have to stop this _right_ now!

"Sasuke!" I call his name desperately.

He doesn't glance away from the soon-to-be murder weapon. "Yeah?"

"Do _not _move!"

"And why not?"

"Because that is a _gun_! Remember those things I told y'all about that can shoot metal bullets at high speeds?" Sasuke pales as he stares into the barrel of the gun. "Yeah, so _listen_ to me." I shift my gaze to the homicidal hedgie. "Shadow, put down the gun."

Said Mobian glances over to me. "Why should I?"

"Because you don't want to be kicked out of this house!"

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Why would I even care?"

I sigh. "Because, believe it or not, we are nowhere close to home right now."

Shadow scoffs. "I don't care how far away we are, we'll make it back eventually." I inwardly scream in frustration in my head. It's like talking to a stubborn five year old!

"No! You don't get it! I was transported here like you were! The only difference is that mine wasn't voluntary. That's why I left. And we _can't_ go home, if I could I would've been back a long time ago. By the looks of it, you can't go back either!"

Shadow's eyes widen and he lowers the gun some, but Sasuke is still in the danger zone. "You're joking…"

I shake my head. "No I'm not joking. The village, not city, closest to here is called Konoha. You've been nearly everywhere in our world, do _you_ know a village named Konoha?"

The black hedgehog lets his arm fall to his side. Naruto, who was standing by Sasuke the whole time, grabs his arm and pulls him back to where the others are. Shadow doesn't even pay attention. His eyes are searching mine. "You're telling the truth…"

I chuckle as relief floods through my system. "Why would I lie? Now that you believe me, don't you think it's best to have a roof over your head for the time being?"

Shadow glances at his firearm. "I get what you're saying." He puts the gun back wherever he got it from and crosses his arms.

Grinning, I stand up off the couch. "Dude! You really had me nervous there! Were you really going to kill the kid?"

Shadow just shrugs. "I wasn't going to _kill_ him." I roll my eyes. Shadow wasn't going to hurt Sasuke, but he sure as hell was going for a good scare. He glares at me as I put an arm around his shoulders. With the grin still planted on my face, I turn both of us around so Shadow could get a good look at the rest of the nervous looking ninja.

"Alright, time for intros!" I glance at Shadow, who is impassively looking at the others. "From left to right: Hinata, Tenten, Ino, Sakura, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Lee, Kiba, Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi." No one really drew attention to themselves when their name was called. I run my hand through my quills. It's gonna take a while for them to trust Shadow, after his little stunt. "And this here, everyone, is Shadow."

Neji speaks up, albeit a little hesitantly. "So, that's your rival that can almost match you in speed?"

Shadow knocks my arm off. "Almost? What have you been telling them? I've never lost a race to you!"

I wiggle a finger at him. "But you never won one either!"

Shadow stares then smirks. "So you admit it."

Cocking my head in confusion, I ask. "Admit what?"

"That you're not faster than me."

My eyes widen. Well _that_ backfired. "T-That's not what I meant and you know it!" Shadow just grunts, signaling the end of the conversation.

I shake my head, turning back to the others only to see them looking between us and Naruto and Sasuke. Said ninjas are staring at us weirdly. "Why are they looking at us like that?" I whisper to Shadow.

He shrugs. "How should I know? They're your friends."

Kakashi steps up, still eyeing Shadow. "We're just shocked about how you to act with each other. It's similar to how Naruto and Sasuke behave." He then stands in front of Shadow with a stern face. "And I'm afraid that if you threaten another one of my students again, I will have to take drastic measures, understand?" Wow, he can be scary when he wants to.

Shadow scoffs and crosses his arms. "Whatever."

Seeming satisfied with that answer, Kakashi eye smiles and claps his hands together. "Alright then, it's breakfast time! Let's go everyone!" The ninja leave the living room to go into the kitchen and I'm about to follow, but am stopped by Shadow's voice.

"Hey, where's the bathroom?"

I point up the stairs. "There are two of them up there. One to the left and one to the right." Shadow nods and heads for the stairs. "Number one or number two?" I ask grinning.

He glances back at me with a faint blush. "None of your damn business." He mumbles as he continues up to the second floor. Snickering, I follow the others' path into the kitchen. Inside, Sakura is cooking and the genin stop talking as I sit down.

"Soo…" I drawl out. "Would were you guys talking about?"

"Your crazy friend, man!" Kiba throws his hands in the air. "'Wouldn't hurt a fly', yeah right!"

"Yosh!" Lee agrees. "Full with youthful energy! Just, the wrong kind…"

I lean on the table. "Just chill guys. He wouldn't hurt anyone, for no good reason." Nudging Sasuke with an elbow, I grin. "He was just going for a scare."

Sasuke crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. "Didn't seem like it."

"Yeah!" Naruto points in between his eyes. "He was going for the brain!"

"Is he always like this?" I turn to Sakura by the stove.

Scratching my nose, I answer. "Not really. He's just really wary about strangers." I smirk. "Just be lucky he wasn't _really _angry. He would've hit you at pointblank with a Chaos spear."

"Oh! That is right!" Ino brushes her platinum blonde bang out of her face. "He's the one that can do all that extra stuff, right? With the Chaos emerald?"

I nod and glance at the kitchen door where Shadow is now standing. Now we have a problem. Where is he going to sit? Glancing left and right, I see an extra empty chair beside the bowl hair cut boy beside me. "Hey Lee."

"Yes Sonic?"

"Can you scoot over to the chair next to you?"

"Sure…" He looks at me confusedly, but complies anyway. Guess he doesn't see Shadow.

Looking past everyone else, I wave my counterpart over. "Over here Shads! Got you a seat!" Said hedgehog makes his way over and sits down.

"Didn't I tell you to not call me that?"

I innocently whistle. "Dunno, have you?"

He just shakes his head. "You're impossible."

I give him a smirk before the table falls into a tense and awkward silence with only the sounds of pans and the occasional sizzle in the background. Sighing, I remain quiet to let whoever have a chance to talk directly to Shadow, to get to know him and not see him as a crazed lunatic. After a while of nothing happening, I'm about to speak up, but, surprisingly, Hinata beats me to it.

"S-Shadow." The black hedgehog, whose eyes were trained on the ceiling, drops them to glance at Hinata.

"Yes?" The pale-eyed girl squeaks and pushes her two fingers together, blushing from ear to ear. I inwardly chuckle, now I'll have someone else to share the fangirls with.

"Uh, i-is it t-true that you c-can use the C-Chaos emerald to use d-different attacks?"

"Yes, I can." He smirks. "Want a demonstration?" Hinata looks at him with wide eyes, then hesitantly nods. "Alright then." Shadow holds up his hand and closes his eyes. For a few seconds, nothing happens. Then, yellow energy akin to lightning forms in his hand. "This," he says opening his eyes. "is a Chaos spear." Everyone at the table eyes widen, especially team seven's members.

"Sasuke! Kakashi sensei! Doesn't that look _just _like the chidori?" Naruto asks after picking his jaw off the floor.

"Yes. Yes it does." Kakashi is examining the sparkling light intently.

Sasuke rolls his eyes and looks away, trying and failing to hide that he too was ogling at the raging energy. "So what if it does? Can't be any more powerful."

Shadow raises an eyebrow at the raven's statement. "You think so?" He then looks around the kitchen. He stops his search when his eyes land on a window. "Sonic, can you open that window?" I glance at him, then at the glass in question.

"Sure." I stand up and zip over to the window. Opening it, a cool breeze blows into the room. I step back and turn around in front of the window, only to dive out of the way when the yellow energy exits through the pane. I stand up, dust myself off, and send a glare over to Shadow. "You could've told me to stand out of the way!"

Shads lowers his hand. "I knew you were going to dodge anyway, so why waste my breath?"

Letting that little event go, I return back to my seat to see Sasuke and everyone else gawking at where the Chaos spear exited.

"Oh my God…" Tenten's eyes are as wide as saucers.

"That was awesome!" Choji shouts.

Not really surprised being I've seen this plenty of times, I just glance over to Shadow looking smug. As his rival, that cannot be! "Whoa guys. Stop being so excited, it's gonna make his ego so big that he's gonna pop!" I grab his cheek. "And we wouldn't want that do we? Wittle Shadow-wadow…"

Everyone laughs as Shadow's content face turns to one of annoyance before he swipes my hand away.

"Breakfast is ready!" Sakura passes out the pancake plates to everyone. As soon as I get mine, I dig in. Savoring the fluffy goodness, the pancakes are gone within minutes. Sighing contently, I pat my stomach. Sakura can sure cook!

My black quilled neighbor is still working on them when I remember that he hasn't apologized to anyone yet. My elbow nudges Shadow's side to get his attention. He glances at me and I mouth 'Say sorry.' He eyes me weirdly. 'For what?'

Appalled, I just stare at him pointedly. It takes a couple seconds, then it finally clicks. Shadow drops his fork and turns to the laziest person at the table. "Hey." The pony-tailed boy looks up with dull eyes, a small spark of curiosity is contained within them. "I'm sorry for calling you an idiot earlier."

Shikamaru waves a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it. It's cool."

Thinking that he was done apologizing, Shadow goes back to eating only to get interrupted again my by nudge. He looks at me agitatedly. 'Now what?'

I sigh. 'You forgot a person.'

'Who?'

'Sasuke.'

Shadow blinks. '… Who?'

"Jesus Christ Shadow!" I yell out loud, scaring half the table. "The person that you almost _shot_ today sitting on the _other_ side of me!"

Shadow looks past me at a startled Sasuke. "Right. Sorry uh…"

"Sasuke."

"…Sasuke for threatening you earlier. It was out of line."

Said genin swallows and nods. "It's alright." He then smirks. "Just don't do it again."

Shadow scowls. "Why you little…"

"Teme! He apologized!"

"He accepted your apology, Shads!"

"But-" Sasuke starts.

"He-" Shadow growls.

"Just let it go!" Naruto and I shout at the two going at it. Sasuke scowls and turns away as Shadow closes his eyes and crosses his arms. I turn to Naruto, giving him a wink and a thumbs up while he gives me a vulpine grin.

"We should team up like this more often." He suggests.

"Agreed." Sighing, I rake my fingers through my quills only to freeze when I feel the gem hidden there. I totally forgot about showing this to the others! Pulling it out, it catches Sakura's eye.

"Sonic! The emerald's back to normal!" By now everyone's eyes are focused on the glowing gem. "How did you do that?"

I toss the gem up in the air and catch it again. "Wasn't me!" Gesturing to the hedgehog beside me, I lean back into my chair. "It was Shads. He came here in the middle of the night, bringing the rest of the emeralds with him. We touched them together and poof! It came back to life."

Sakura stands up with stars in her eyes. "Did you just say he brought the rest of the beautiful gems? I gotta see all of them!"

Kiba jumps up as well, with Akamaru trying with all his might to stay on top of his head. "I want to hold one! I never got to feel the energy rush! Where are they, Sonic?"

You would've thought I was talking about winning the lottery, the way they're acting. "They're in my room, but-"

The two sprint over to the room before I could even tell them that those emeralds are not just toys they could play with. I'm about to get up to stop them, but Shadow disappears from beside me only to appear in front of the jewel hungry duo before they even get out of the kitchen.

Sakura and Kiba stop so fast, they almost fall over. They regain their balance though. Kiba scratches the back of his head nervously while Sakura avoids the black hedgehog's gaze. Shadow looks at both of them.

"Those gems are not there for you to mess with. They are not to be taken lightly; they are packed with powerful enough to destroy this whole house and the area around it."

"It can do all that…?" Neji mutters to himself.

"But, Lee got to use it!" Kiba counters pointing at green clad boy.

Shadow raises an eyebrow and looks at me. "Is that true?"

I fake cough. "No…"

"Sure I did!" Lee speaks up to my extreme displeasure. "I felt the energy go through me as I teleported!" There are sparkles in his eyes now. "So youthful…"

Shadow stares at the gushing Lee strangely before sighing and shifting his attention back to the two genin. "That's beside the point. Don't mess with them and I'll know if you do." He points back to the table. "Now go."

Sakura tries a different tactic. Her smile is as sweet as honey. "Please Shadow? I just want to hold one-"

Shadow points again. "Nope, don't even try. Go."

Sakura huffs and stomps her way back to her seat while Kiba trudges back looking like a kicked puppy. When they sit down, Shadow vanishes again and pops up in his chair. "Sonic."

I perk up. "Yeah?"

"About that werehog thing last night…"

"I was planning to ask you about that! (sooner or later) What happened after I passed out?"

"What I saw was a dark substance leave your body while you were transforming back into you're regular self."

I pump my fist. "Woo! I'm cured!"

"You were sick?" Shikamaru asks.

"No! Just means no more werehog! Yes!" I do a small seated dance as Naruto lets out a sigh of relief.

"Well that's good news! How would we be able to handle _two_ unstable hedgehogs?"

Shadow glares at him. "What was that?"

Naruto gulps. "N-Nothing! Just say how we love to have two friendly hedgies living under our roof!"

Shads smirks. "Better had."

Sasuke scowls. "Our?"

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Yes, _our. _Geez Sasuke, we're living here too!"

Before the teammates could go any further in their argument, Kakashi speaks up. "Well, this is an interesting turn of events."

"How so, sensei?" Sakura asks still looking miffed about not getting the gems.

He ignores her and turns to Shadow. "Seeing that you've warped not too long ago, I'm assuming you have an emerald on you as well, right? Will you show it to me?"

Shadow narrows his eyes, but reaches in his quills anyway. He pulls out a shining ruby emerald. Ignoring Sakura's squeals, the jonin rubs his chin. "Yep, thought so. Same radiant energy as Sonic's." He stands up. "Well, you are coming with me to see the hokage."

"She's a women named Tsunade who's an alcoholic that is like a governor here." I whisper to Shadow, and he appreciatively nods. I stand up too. "I wanna go say hi to her." And see Shadow run away from the rabid girls out there, but I don't mention that.

"You can come, any others?"

"I'll go. There's nothing else better to do around here." Sasuke says and Naruto hops up.

"Any time's a good time to see the old hag! OWW! Sakuraaaa!"

"What have I told you about disrespecting the hokage, idiot!"

I shake my head and Shadow lets out a small chuckle as we follow Kakashi to the door, Sasuke walking behind and Naruto taking up the rear, grumbling under his breath. We are about to step out, but a question pops into my head.

"Kakashi, why are we even going to her?"

He glances down at me, then Shadow. "She's been wanting to see if she could harness the power of the emerald. That's why she was so determined to make the dead one work again." Uh oh. I look over to Shadow to see his face harden.

Tsunade's about to hit an unbreakable wall. Its name: Shadow the hedgehog.


	20. Chapter 20

**Warning- Shadow's language could get a bit colorful this chappie, but hey, what d'ya expect?**

**Sasuke: Your friend is insane.**

**Sonic: He isn't insane…just impulsive.**

**Sasuke: (shakes head) Although…one of those gun things might come in handy someday.**

**Sonic: Oh no you don't! You don't even know how to use one! You might blow someone's head off!**

**Sasuke: (shrugs) I'll ask Shadow to teach me.**

**Sonic: Dude, I **_**seriously**_** doubt he'll do that.**

**Sasuke: How do you know?**

**Sonic: (throws hands in the air) Oh, I don't know. Just that I've known him **_**way**_** long- you now what? Go ask him. Go ahead.**

**Sasuke: (eyes Sonic) Fine, I will. (walks out room)**

**Sonic: …**

**Sasuke: (walks back in)**

**Sonic: What did he say?**

**Sasuke: I don't want to talk about it.**

**Surprise**

The whole trip to the village is silent. Naruto, Sasuke, and even Kakashi wouldn't get within a five foot radius of the fuming black hedgehog. Shadow is walking with crossed arms, glaring daggers at me every time I try to talk to him. When we get to the outskirts of the village, the ninja take up some conversation while my counterpart is still lost within his own thoughts, not speaking a word.

Once in the village, I can see the residents scampering around the streets running errands, shopping, and all that jazz. Looking around, there are ninja running on roofs and doing menial things as just painting an old guy's fence or chasing after…is that a cat?

"So Shadow, how do you like Konoha so far?" I whirl around to face Shadow, who has been walking behind us. As expected, he glares at me.

"Fantastic."

Sensing the sarcasm, I groan and turn back around to see Sasuke eyeing Shadow curiously. His turns his focus onto me. "What's the matter with him?"

I shrug. "It's nothing really. He's just grumpy."

"Why?" Naruto asks, butting into the conversation.

A little kid from the class at the academy waves at me from across the street beside his mother. I wave back with a smile. That smile turns into a knowing smirk. "You'll see when we face Tsunade." They spare a glance at the hedgehog trailing behind before looking forwards.

As we continue on, Shadow eventually decides to walk _with_ the group, but he is still glaring daggers at any curious passerby. When they flinch back with a scared expression, I feel compelled to right the situation.

"Sorry ma'am! He just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!"

"My friend here is just practicing for a play!"

"Um, he stubbed his toe on the kitchen table earlier."

"Uh…he's PMSing."

The old lady widens her eyes. "But, you said he is a boy…"

I chuckle nervously. "Yeah…well…" What? I ran out of excuses. "Just carry on then!" The woman looks in between me and the slightly offended Shadow then carries on with her commute.

Sighing, I turn to Shadow. "Do you have to make _everyone_ you pass cower in fear? I mean come on, that was an old harmless woman!"

Mr. Grumpy just hmphs and walks ahead of the group. He keeps going as we stop at an intersection that leads us to the tower. Kakashi sweat drops.

"Uh, Shadow…"

"What?" He irritatedly asks without stopping.

"Maybe it is his time of the month…" Naruto mumbles and I snicker.

"The path to the hokage is this way." Shadow glances back to see Kakashi pointing to the road on his right. He stops in his tracks, scowls, and slowly walks back over to us.

When Shadow makes his way back to us, he sighs. "Well?"

Kakashi stares at Shadow in confusion, then glances down at me. I just shrug. I may know Shadow, but that doesn't mean I can read minds. The jonin turns his attention back to the black hedgie, scratching his chin in thought.

"Well what?"

Shadow looks like he's about to burst at the seams. He grits his teeth and grounds out, "Well, are you going to show me the way to the tower where that bi-"

"Shadow…" I warn. We don't need to insult the person in control here and get on the bad side of anyone who's within earshot, now do we?

My counterpart shallows whatever he was going to say (shouldn't be a surprise to you), and starts over using more pleasant language. Not after sending me a look that could kill of course.

"Lead the way to the tower where that _beautiful _woman is residing."

Before Kakashi could respond, Naruto holds up his hand in a halting motion; his eyebrows scrunched together. "Wait! I want to know what he was going to say the first time."

I glance at this kid in wonder. Is he really that curious or is he going for the 'I dare you to say it' thing. Beside the blonde, Sasuke puts his head in his hand and grabs Naruto's arm.

"It was nothing. Now let's go."

Naruto yanks his arms from Sasuke's grasp, causing the latter to glare at his stubborn rival. "No! I really want to know! It'll kill me, not knowing!" Shaking my head, I inwardly face palm. He's really this naïve? Even Sasuke got the gist of what word that was about to fly out of Shadow's mouth.

"Naruto, it doesn't ma-"

Shadow's chuckle cuts off Sasuke's second attempt at making Naruto lose his curiosity. "If the kid wants to know, I'll tell him." I start to get nervous when he takes a step closer to Naruto. Shadow isn't known to have the cleanest uh…_vocabulary_. "I was going to say to show me the way to where that _bitch_ of an emerald stealer is so I can tell her to _suck my d-"_

I quickly get beside Shadow and place my hand over his mouth to save the innocence of the genin in front of us. "Whoa there Shads! No need for that out here! Save that for later!" Shadow growls against my hand and rips it away from his mouth.

Turning to Kakashi, I see that his expression isn't of one that I thought it would be. It's one of amusement. He chuckles lowly as he turns to continue walking. "Tsunade's gonna have her hands full with this one." And I totally agree with him.

Looking at the rookie ninja, they are both glaring at the silently fuming Shadow. Then all of a sudden, they start talking at the same time. Well, more like yelling for Naruto.

"You should watch about what you say about our hokage."

"The Old Hag should be given more respect!"

Before Sasuke and Naruto continue in their rant, I step up and spin them around towards the direction Kakashi is heading in, pushing them that way. "And that's enough of that. Shadow's in one of his moods right now, so whatever you tell him will go right over his head." Glancing behind me, Shadow is trailing behind us with an unreadable facial expression. Hopefully he won't just barge in there and destroy the place. "Just let him cool off a bit."

Naruto crosses his arms and puffs out his cheeks. "Fine, but that doesn't mean what he said was ok!" I drop my arms and he stomps up to Kakashi, to complain, I'm sure. However, the jonin just waves him off and reads his book. Sasuke stays by my side.

We continue to head for the tower in silence besides the natural noise of the village. Occasionally, I glance back at Shadow to see him glaring at the ground and not at the curious villagers. Whew, he actually listened to me!

As we continue walking, my mind wanders and randomly goes back to what Iruka had said about Sasuke.

"_They are mostly the same as they were then, except Naruto now knows the time to be serious and Sasuke isn't as moody and distant."_

I have no idea why my weird thoughts went back to that specific sentence, but now my curiosity is through the roof. I look at Sasuke through the corner of my eye. Why was he like that in the first place?

Sasuke catches my gaze and raises an eyebrow. I shake my head. "It's nothing."

He sighs. "Come on, just spit it out."

I put my hands behind my head. "When all of us were walking to that restaurant, Iruka told me something intersecting about you."

Sasuke's lips pull down at the edges. "What did he say?"

"Well," I start, scratching my chin. "he said that in the academy, you were distant from the others. How come?" My head turns towards him when I don't get an immediate answer to see he stop in his tracks. Shadow behind us then runs into Sasuke and scowls at him, but the raven doesn't look up from the ground he is staring at. Confused at that reaction, Shadow looks at me. I just wave him off. He nods and continues past us. I give Sasuke my full attention. "Listen. You don't have to answer if you don't want to if it's a bad memory or something."

Sasuke shakes his head and looks up. "Its ok, I overreacted. It's all in the past now." He starts walking again and I keep in step with him. "I was like that because the only thing on my mind back then was revenge."

"Revenge?" Hadn't seen that coming.

He kicks a lone pebble with his foot. "Yeah. On my brother." My eyes widen at this. I never even thought about his family.

"Why on your brother?"

Sasuke clenches a fist at his side and hides his face in his bangs. "Because, he…he _killed_ my whole family, for _fun_, and just left. Because of that, I desperately wanted to get stronger to kill him someday."

My mouth falls open. His own _brother_ killed his…that's horrible! My ears droop some. I don't blame him for wanting revenge, but isn't murder a bit too much?

"But then, I got my team." I focus back on him to see a small smile on his face. "Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi. Even though they get on my nerves sometimes…_most_ of the time, they helped me to learn to forget the past." I return the gesture and give him a thumbs up.

"That's the spirit, bud!"

Sasuke's smile turns into a smirk. "Don't get me wrong, if I do see Itachi, I will tear him a new one." I chuckle at that. "But until then, I'll focus on the present."

We go into comfortable silence then, soaking in the sun's rays. Sasuke's whole story reminds me of someone else. My eyes focus on the black hedgehog walking in front of me. He lost his whole family too. Sigh, hopefully Shadow won't kill me for telling his life story.

"You know," Sasuke glances at me. "Shadow over there has been through a similar past."

The raven stuffs his hands in his pockets. "Really?"

"Yeah, about fifty years ago, he lost the person he cared about the most. Her name was Maria, and she was something like a sister to Shadow. I don't know all the details, but she died when the ARK was invaded and Shadow somehow made it to earth."

Sasuke puts his hand up and I snap my mouth closed. "Wait a minute. First question, this happened fifty years ago?" He gestures to Shadow. "He doesn't look any older than you!"

I scratch the back of my head. "Oops, I forgot to tell you that Shadow's kinda immortal. He's just stuck in an eighteen year old body."

He just stares at me. "Mmhmm, ok, right. Nothing's wrong with that. Next question, what's the ARK?"

"Hmm, it's like a big space ship."

Sasuke looks at me weirdly. "Space ship?" Oh yeah, I forgot people here don't even know what a car is. How do I explain this?

I point to the sky and Sasuke looks up. "A space ship can fly past the sky into space. You do know what space is right?"

Sasuke scoffs. "Of course I do." Thank god, because I would have a hard ass time explaining that.

"Back to the story, Shadow's only 'family' is gone now." I then grin. "Until he met us! Well, I don't know that he'll call our group of friends a family, but I sure do. So, you two have a lot in common."

Sasuke stares ahead at Shadow. "Yeah, I guess we do."

As soon as he finishes his sentence, I hear the all-to-familiar shriek of Yuki. Dammit to hell!

"OMG girls! I see Sonic!" She squeals again. "Ah! And Sasuke too!"

Sasuke and I flinch, look at each other, and slowly turn around. Behind us is the same group of girls that have been chasing me around this village.

"Oh no…" Sasuke mutters.

"Ditto."

We slowly back up until I hit something. Glancing back, I see that it isn't a something, but a someone. Shadow, who must've stopped to see what was happening, walks in between me and Sasuke to step forward towards the girls. Is he trying to get himself killed?

"Shadow! Come back before it's too late!" I call out to him, but he ignores me. Fine, it's his funeral.

"Oh!" An unnamed girl from the group swoons. "The black one is sexy!"

"I agree! I want Shadow!" Cries another.

"Pfft, Sonic is the one for me!"

"Nah uh! Team Sasuke all the way!"

"SONIC!"

"SHADOW!"

"SASUKE!"

"GIRLS!" Yuki yells over the noise. She puts her hand on her hip and smirks. "Why pick when we can have all three?"

"That's a _great _idea!"

"We can have a turn with all of them!"

They all simultaneously shriek and I flatten my ears against my head as Sasuke takes another step back, ready to bolt. But in front of us, Shadow's ear just twitches the slightest of movements. The rabid fangirls take a step forwards, but they don't come any closer. In fact, they take a step back with nervous faces. I don't have to see his face to know that Shadow is glaring at the girls. And frankly, I don't care that he is.

"Go away and leave us alone." Shadow grits out.

I hear footsteps behind me and I turn to see Kakashi and Naruto.

"What's going on here?" The latter asks.

"Shadow's keeping the sharks at bay." I answer.

"What?" He then looks at the nervous girls and turns towards Shadow. His face twists to one of anger. He puts up a fist and starts for the black hedgehog. "Hey! Leave those girls alone!" Naruto doesn't get to say any more because before he gets any closer to him, Sasuke grabs him and yanks him backwards.

"Don't you see, dobe? He's helping us."

"Helping? How-"

"Just shut up and stay back here!" The raven hisses.

"And why should we?" I turn around to see Yuki holding her ground, head held high.

Shadow chuckles lowly and takes a step forward and Yuki shrinks back a bit. "Because if you don't, something bad will happen, and you don't want that do you?"

Yuki and her posse start to tremble in their boots. Shadow takes another step towards them and smirks.

"Boo."

The girls scream and scrambling over each other trying to get away. When the last of them are gone, Shadow whirls around, stares impassively between Sasuke and I, and walks past us. After a couple of steps, he looks back.

"Well?" He repeats the familiar question and Kakashi walks ahead.

"That was a sight, but come on, we aren't far away from the tower now." He passes Shadow and buries his head into his book again. Naruto sighs.

"I have no idea what just happened." He then starts to follow Kakashi and Shadow.

Sasuke and I look at each other with bewildered expressions.

"I say we stick with Shads when we come out here."

"Took the words right out of my mouth." With that, we start walking again.

Not long after that little event, we make it to the tower without any interruptions. We all walk in and Kakashi goes up to the same receptionist that was there the first time I was here. As the jonin checks to see if no one is having a meeting with Tsunade already, I see Shadow examining the place with curious eyes. And I see the ninja present looking at Shadow in the same way.

"Thank you. Let's go, she's free right now." Kakashi makes a following motion and Shadow's ruby eyes turn cold before he starts to follow. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Just don't take it too far, alright?" Shads' eyes lose some of their coldness and he nods.

I sigh as we all climb the stairs to the hokage's room. At the room's door, I get smacked in the face with a familiar stench. By the way Shadow's face twisted in disgust, I can tell he did too.

"Like I said before," I mumble to him. "she's an alcoholic." Shadow scowls as Kakashi opens the door. Inside, as I suspected, there are sake bottles littered all over the place with Tsunade taking a sip from one of the offending bottles.

"Hey Old Hag!" Naruto greets.

"Don't call me that brat!" She yells back with a grin on her face. Tsunade places the bottle on her desk.

I make a show of waving my hand in front of my nose. "What did I tell ya about drinking! And how did you get another shipment so fast?"

She playfully glares at me. "I don't remember that you said anything." I roll my eyes at that. _Sure_ she didn't. The older blonde picks up her sake and tips it my way before drinking some. "And I got express shipping!"

I put my hand on my hip and tsk. "I'm not getting anywhere with you, am I?"

"Nope!" She smirks. "Others have tried, but taking this away from me is like taking ramen away from Naruto."

Sasuke huffs. "And believe me, you don't want to do that. When I took away all of his instant ramen, he wouldn't leave my doorstep until I gave it all back."

Naruto grins. "Well yeah! Ramen is the best food ever!

Before we could continue with that conversation, Kakashi puts down his book and speaks up. "That's enough of that, now's the reason we are up here…"

Tsunade sits back in her chair, blonde brow raised. "Yes, Kakashi, why are you all here?"

"I can answer that!" I gesture beside me to Shadow. "It's because my friend here has a bone to pick with you." I finish pointing my finger at the hokage. Her eyes widen as she focuses on the black hedgehog.

"Oh really?" She leans forwards on her desk. "What's your friend's name?" I turn to Shadow to see him glaring at Tsunade with all the hate in the world. I just sigh.

"His name is Shadow."

"Hmmm." She hums. "It's a fitting name." Her eyes shift over to me. "How did he get here?"

"That's the reason we're here." Kakashi cuts in. "Sonic here told us that Shadow arrived while we were sleeping using the rest of the Chaos emeralds." Tsunade's eyes has a strange glint in them. "Shadow even used the one on him to fix Sonic's. Sonic, would you show her?"

I nod and pull out the cyan gem from my quills. The older blonde stands up with a smile and claps her hands together. "Yes! Now that one is fixed, we can perform some tests to see how we can use the gem's power." She turns to Kakashi. "You said all the emeralds are here?"

"Yes, I did."

Tsunade's smile gets wider. "Even more perfect! The process will be much quicker. All we have to do is-"

"Stop." We all look over to Shadow who hasn't said a word until now. Tsunade stops talking and turns fully to the black hedgehog. "Just stop." He steps up to the desk and slams his hands on the table. "You have no right to do whatever you want with those emeralds."

The hokage glares at Shadow. "Of course I have a right. I run this village and everything that goes on within it!" She jabs her finger to point at the gem still resting in my hand. "Last time I checked, those emeralds are in _my_ village."

Shadow mirrors her glare. "They aren't even from this _world_." He points to himself with his thumb. "So, they technically belong to me." I cough from behind him and I can tell he rolled his eyes. "And to Sonic. You don't steal from your villagers, do you?"

"I would if they held something that could improve our offensive and defensive forces!" She counters. "And the gems would do exactly that!" She pounds her fist on the desk. Kakashi, Naruto, and I look at each other and then take a step back. You know, just in case things get ugly.

The two going at it don't even notice. "They are our valuables and you will _not_ use them for your personal gain!" Wait, but we use them…for…personal…you know what? I don't want them to use the gems either, so I'm not gonna correct Shadow on that.

Tsunade smirks as she pulls out her trump card. "You will hand them over if you want to stay in this village."

Shadow's body tenses as he starts to growl. Before that could go any further, he stops, crosses his arms, and takes a deep breath. Do my eyes deceive me? Is Shadow _backing down?_

After a few seconds of silence, Shadow speaks again. "Say that you aren't going to use the emeralds." What was I thinking? Shadow the hedgehog doesn't give up.

Tsunade sits back down in her chair, arms crossed like Shadow's. "Oh? And why should I?"

Shadow shrugs. "Well, if you don't, you'll have a giant hole through your wall."

"Ooo! He has threats everyone! Threats!" She chuckles as she looks at us spectators. I just eye Shadow warily. She doesn't know it, but he has bark _and_ bite.

Shadow grins darkly. "Suit yourself." He holds out a hand and soon yellow energy rampages in his palm. A ChaosSpear, a freakin_ Chaos_ _Spear_! Shit, I told him not to take it too far! I start to bite my nails, nervous to what's to come.

The black hedgehog holds his hand out off to the right. Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, and Shizune, since they are in the path of destruction, scamper to where I am. Tsunade stands up and narrows her eyes.

"You wouldn't dare."

The grin grows. "Try me."

Tsunade loses face for a moment, but then she regains her composure. She holds her head high. "I _will_ use those emeralds for my ninjas' needs."

Shadow tsks. "Wrong answer."

The next thing I know, yellow streaks of energy shoot out and there is a big explosion after the spear hits the east wall. A small tremble shakes the floor we are on and I hear the crumbles of wall fall onto the floor. There are muffled screams of shock from the street below. Damn, hopefully no one got hit with anything.

The smoke lingers, and then clears to show a gaping hole where Shadow was aiming. Said hedgehog lowers his hand and raises an eyebrow at Tsunade who is staring at the hole in shock. Her face twists to one of anger as she faces the smug Shadow. Before she could say anything, five ninja in animal masks appear in the room.

A person in a bird mask grabs Shadow's wrists and twists them behind his back. Also, the ninja in a bear mask, who I've met before in the academy, surprisingly does the same to my arms. I grunt in pain when they are forced behind my back. My emerald drops to the floor.

"Let go of me!" I focus on Shadow who is struggling to get away from the masked ninja, but failing.

"Whoa, whoa!" Naruto yells with his hands in the air. "I understand why you're holding him." He glances to a still wiggling Shadow. "But why do you have Sonic?" Tsunade just slumps back down in her seat, fingers massaging her temples. Nobody answers the boy.

I break the tense silence by turning towards my captor. "Hey, you're that Bear guy right?" He doesn't move an inch. I kick it up a notch. "That Tsunade made you _babysit some kids_ at the academy?" I feel the very subtle tensing of Bear's muscles and grin. Gotcha.

I then hear a very,_ very _soft whisper. If I hadn't had such a good sense of hearing, I would've missed it.

"I swear if you mention another word, I will make your stay here a living _hell_, do you understand me?" I chuckle and Sasuke sends a curious look my way.

"Who are you talking to?"

I give him a smile. "Don't worry about it." He eyes me for another moment before turning back to watch Shadow try to bite the ninja behind him, which isn't working.

I turn my head a bit and whisper. "I wouldn't have to mention another one if you just let me go…"

"No, this is for the safety of the hokage." Safety? But I didn't do anything! But that's alright.

"Fine then." I clear my throat loudly and all of the people in the room focus on me, even Shadow pauses in trying to twist out of the hold he is in. "Tsunade?"

She tiredly sighs. "Yes?"

The hands griping my wrist tightens painfully, but I endure it. "Remember when you ordered this kind fellow behind me to substitute for Iruka yesterday?"

The older blonde closes her eyes for a second. "I believe I did, but why?"

I snicker. "Let me tell you how this man felt about his job. He said that-"

"Lord Hokage."

She looks at the ninja in confusion. "What is it Bear?"

"May I let this one go? He wasn't the one who caused the damage after all." Outside, I smirk smugly, but inside, I laugh hysterically. Score for Sonic, woo!

Tsunade waves him off. "Yeah sure…"He lets go and I rub my throbbing arms. Glancing downwards, I pick of the discarded emerald and dust it off. After placing the gem back in my quills, I turn my attention back to the woman glaring at the panting Shadow. "As for you…"

I zip over and stand beside Shads. "Wait a sec. He was just trying to prove a point!"

A tick forms on her forehead. "By blasting a hole through my _wall!_"

Scratching my nose, I respond. "Yeah, I admit he did go a bit too with that one." Shadow lowly growls at me. "But I agree with him. You can't just take our stuff."

Tsunade leans on her desk, chin resting in her hand. Her eyes shift in between me and Shadow. I hold my breath as the silence stretches out. She then closes her eyes.

"Fine." I let that breath out. "As much as I want those emeralds, I won't take them if Shadow helps rebuild the wall _he_ blew away."

Grinning, I pat Shadow on the shoulder. "See? All you need to do is negotiate-"

"I wasn't done." Shadow and I turn back to the woman grinning at her desk. "And, he will have to help Iruka with the children at the academy some days."

Shadow scowls. "I did not agree to any of this!"

Tsunade narrows her eyes. "It's either those two community services, or you can go ahead and hand over the emeralds now."

"Dude! Just take what she offered. Playing with the children will be fun!"

Shadow's scowl disappears, but he's still frowning. "But I don't do _fun._"

I chuckle. "Stop whining! It isn't the end of the world." My eyes shift over to the hokage. "He'll do them."

"Nothing is decided until he agrees." She examines her nails as Shadow still refuses to accept the offer.

"Just say yes already." Sasuke comments from his spot in the room.

Shadow sighs. "Fine, I'll do it."

Tsunade smiles. "That the answer I wanted to hear! ANBU, you all can go now."

"Are you sure?" Bird asks.

"Positive, now shoo!" All of the mask ninja nod and disappear from the room. Shadow lets his arms fall to his sides.

"Well, that was more entertaining than I thought it would be. That blast sure was a surprise." Kakashi says as he examines the hole in the wall.

"I was kinda scared that there would be an all-out brawl in here!" Naruto steps up beside me. Sasuke does too, shaking his head.

"I doubt that. If that happened even more ANBU would arrive and it would just be one sided really."

"Hey!" I put my hand on my hip. "Don't underestimate the power of the hedgehog!"

Shadow stares at me. "Seriously? Power of the hedgehog?"

"Don't make fun! I am standing up for us here!"

Sasuke raises a dark eyebrow.

"Would you last against a hundred elite ninja?"

Hundred? That's a lot... "If you put it like that..."

Tsunade laughs. "Yeah, two against a hundred aren't good odds. Back to business though, Kakashi, I'll tell you when we will begin construction on my wall and when Iruka needs a little help so you can let Shadow know."

Kakashi eye smiles. "Sounds like a plan. Wouldn't you agree, Shadow?"

Said hedgie scoffs. "Whatever."

Tsunade rolls her eyes. "Now that that's settled, y'all go too because I have a meeting in about thirty minutes."

"Always busy." Naruto salutes and takes a step towards the door. "See ya later Old Hag!"

"Bye brat! I'll see all of you later." She takes a sip of her forgotten sake. "I'll you soon, Shadow."

Shadow makes no motion to respond, but I wave back at her heading towards the door. We all walk back down the stairs to see one of those masked ninja (ANBU right?) blocking the way up. Looking past the figure, I see many ninja trying to get pass to see the hokage. I inwardly snicker, no doubt they heard that boom.

Kakashi taps on the ABNU's shoulder. He/she turns his/her head to reveal a cat mask. "Can we pass?" Cat nods and steps out of the way. We pass the feline only for the ninja to resume their place in front of the stairs. After pushing our way through the crowd, we finally make it outside to see bits and pieces of drywall on the ground. I search around and am relieved when I don't see anyone knocked out from some wayward piece of wall falling on top of them.

"Hey guys!" We all look over to see Kiba running with Akamaru towards us.

"Kiba?" Naruto scratches his head. "Why are you here?"

The dog lover stops in front of us and puts his hands on his knees, panting. "We all came running when we heard that boom!"

"We?" Sasuke cocks his head in confusion. I'm asking the same question. I then peer around Kiba to see the rest of the group running up. Well, that answers that.

"Did y'all see what happened?" Tenten asks, leaning on Neji for support.

"Yep!" I give them a grin. "We were up there when it happened!"

"Really? So what caused the explosion?" Choji huffs, pulling out a bag of chips.

I throw my arm around Shadow's shoulders, and he looks askance at me. "It was Shads! He and Tsunade had a little…disagreement."

Ino's eyes widen. "So you _blew up_ her wall?!"

Shadow shakes off my arm and crosses his. "It was necessary."

Kiba points at my counterpart. "You, dude, have some serious issues."

"Troublesome…"

"But it seems so youthful at the same time!" Lee gushes and turns to Kakashi. "May I spar against him?"

Kakashi eyes Shadow. "Hmm…I don't know."

Shadow smirks. "I've been wanting to know what these humans are made of." Kakashi still looks skeptical.

"I agree with Kakashi." Neji speaks up. "Shadow is overpowered and Lee would be no match for him." I put my hand on my hip and tap my foot. What would make them worry less? I actually want to see this myself. I snap. That's it!

"How about this," Everyone looks at me confusedly. I quickly reach inside Shadow's quills and pull out his red emerald. "Shadow fights without his emerald."

"Faker!" Shadow tries to retrieve his gem, but I keep it out of his reach. "Give it back!"

"Nope! I think it would be a fairer fight if you didn't use it."

Hinata nods. "T-That d-does make it fair…"

Shadow reaches for the gem again, and I weave out of the way. He growls at me. "I _wasn't _going to use it!"

I wiggle my finger at him. "But, you naturally pull from it if it's near you. And don't you dare disagree!" Shadow snaps his mouth closed and scowls.

"If he doesn't use the emerald, I'll let them spar." Kakashi says.

"What do you think, Shads?" I can tell he still isn't persuaded. "Alright." I pull the light blue emerald from my quills. Both emeralds are being spun around in my hands. "I won't have mine if for some reason that makes you feel better." Shadow stares at the emeralds, then at me.

"Fine, but where are you going to leave them?"

"That's easy!" I while around to face Sasuke. "I'm gonna leave them…Hey, Sasuke, are you ok?" The genin in question has a hand on his left shoulder, staring at something. I follow is gaze just in time to see the end of a snake disappear inside a bush nearby.

"Sasuke?" Sakura takes a step closer to him. Kakashi narrows his eyes and places a soft hand on Sasuke's other shoulder, giving him a small shake.

"Sasuke." He says with a firm voice and Sasuke snaps out of his reverie. He looks up at his sensei.

"Yeah, Kakashi?"

The jonin squats down to get on the raven's level. He glances at the shoulder in which Sasuke is still holding. "Is there anything you need to tell me?"

Sasuke drops that hand and shakes his head. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Kakashi eyes Sasuke for another moment before standing up again. He brings out his book, but I can see him sneaking curious glances at Sasuke.

Shadow steps up beside me. "That was strange."

My eyes shift from Sasuke to that bush and back again. "You're telling me." I get Sasuke's attention again. "Hey Sasuke." He looks at me. "Is your house safe?"

"Safe?"

"Yeah, I want to stash these bad boys with the others in my room."

He thinks for a bit. "It should be. No one besides us even go near the place."

"Ok!" However, before I take a step, I turn to Kakashi. "Um, where exactly is the spar gonna take place?"

"I was thinking team seven's training field."

"Woo!" Naruto pumps his fist. "Our home turf!"

Ignoring him, I respond. "Wait, but I don't know where that is…bah! I'll just ask around!" I glance at Shadow with a smirk. "Be a good boy while I'm gone, ok?" He scoffs and I speed off, laughing the whole way back to Sasuke's house.

About five minutes later, I'm walking up to the door. I sigh as I look at the offending piece of wood. If this is locked, Sasuke is gonna get another kicked in door. My hand twists the door knob and the door opens. I chuckle to myself. The others were in such a rush to find out what that boom was that they forgot to lock it! All the easier for me to get inside.

Waltzing through the living room and the kitchen, I make it to my room. Opening the door, I walk to where the other emeralds are on the nightstand and place the two I have with me with them. I dust my hands off and stretch. "Now it's time to see Shads in action!"

Then I hear my bedroom door slam.

I freeze where I'm standing and shiver travels down my spine when I hear a dark chuckle. The room drops in temperature.

"I've been waiting to meet you, _Sonic the hedgehog._"


	21. Chapter 21

**Warnings- Blood. **_**Heehee…**_

**Sonic: Well this is bad…**

**Sasuke: …**

**Sonic: Do you know who that could be?**

**Sasuke: (seething in anger)**

**Sonic: (takes a step back) Sasuke…?**

**Sasuke: (grits teeth) From the events leading up to this, it's most likely one of two people I never wanted to see again.**

**Sonic: Really? That serious huh?**

**Sasuke: (sharingan spinning) Yeah, and excuse me, I have to go destroy something now.**

**Sonic: Hey wait! Can you at least tell me their names! And…there he goes…**

**Lost**

There is a tense silence in the room. There is no noise besides my shallow breathing and the stranger's own breaths. In all of my days in fighting Eggman and his dumb robots, I've never felt this…_nervous_. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's because the silence, or the fact that I'm kinda trapped in here with this ominous stranger, but, I'm really nervous, borderline _afraid. _Because Sonic the hedgehog is never actually scared, nope.

I stand there with my back to him for what it seems like for hours, but it has only been two minutes. Ok, this has gone on for long enough. Come on, Sonic, just turn around and confront the-

My thoughts derail as my unexpected roommate chuckles again and takes a step towards me. I whirl around so fast that I lose my balance a bit and stubble back into the nightstand. The emeralds roll around, but don't fall off. When I focus on the person about a yard away from me, my eyes widen.

He would look innocent enough, if it wasn't for the dark and devious grin he is giving me right now. He has light grey hair with large circular glasses framing his face. This guy can't be any older than twenty. Glancing up at his forehead, I realize that the symbol is different from the ninja in Konoha. It's a music note instead of the pointed swirl. Does that mean he isn't from here?

I stand up from my position leaning on the stand behind me, eyeing the smirking ninja. He looks down at me, his gaze occasionally shifting to the emeralds, which makes me a little uneasy. I break the oppressing quiet, putting my hand on my hip.

"Ok...three questions." I hold up one finger. "Who are you?" Another raises. "Why are you here? You clearly aren't from this village. And..." The last finger meets the first two. "How do you know who I am?"

The sinister smirk grows and I want desperately to just grab all the emeralds and bolt. Sadly, that isn't possible because he is standing right in front of the door. The silver haired nin pushes up his glasses. Now there is a white glare on his lens that makes it impossible to see his eyes.

"Fine, I'll humor you." He chuckles and again, a shiver makes its way down my back. "My name is Kabuto Yakushi. The better question is, how can I not know who you are?" I can tell he's pointedly avoiding the second question. "News travels fast with loose-mouthed merchants with gossip to share." My eyes widen. How many people know who I am in this world?

Kabuto steps towards me and the glare is gone from his glasses; I have to keep myself from looking away from the penetrating gaze. "But we didn't need them," He continues. "for we knew who you were before the rumors started to spread."

I cross my arms. "That's hard to believe." My eyes shift to the still blocked door, then back to the spectacled man. "I would've seen you creeping around here _at least _once."

"One word." His smile in seriously creeping me out. "Snakes."

I'm genuinely confused. "Snakes? What do they have to do anyt-" And then it hits me. I saw one disappear into a bush today…and that time I was on the huge mountain! I eye Kabuto warily. So he was watching me sleep? How creepy is that.

Hold up.

Those snakes popped up _after _the word got out about me. So how did he know before…?

Kabuto, almost seeming to read my mind, adds, "I know about the ones you've seen, obviously. But those snakes have been watching for a while, and they weren't the only ones. We know a lot of things about you, _Sonic._" My heart starts to beat faster at the sound of his last sentence.

He holds out his hand, closes his eyes, and starts listing. "We know all about your friends in your world."

There were snakes in Sasuke's _house_?

"Your speed."

Well, that one really isn't a surprise.

"All of your attacks."

Even in the clearing…

"Your strange addition to hot dogs…"

Were they watching me the whole time?!

He opens his eyes and grins at me. "Your fear of water."

Shit. This is _bad._

"All of your forms."

How do snakes get inside a restaurant without anyone noticing? This village has some pest control problems.

"And most importantly…" He starts to move his arm, which I didn't know until now was behind his back, in front of him. My heart nearly stops when I see the white Chaos emerald in his hand. I do a 180 to examine the gems on the night stand, only counting six. How did I not notice one was missing? I nervously turn back to Kabuto to see that the glare on his glasses is back while he looks at the emerald. "We learned all about these rocks filled with endless energy and _power_."

"Wait a minute. You keep on saying we, but you're the only one here." I take a quick glance around the room. "You _are _the only one, right?"

Still admiring the emerald in his hand, Kabuto says, "The answer I'll give you is the answer to your second question." He focuses back onto me. "No one else is here, physically." Even now those reptiles are watching?

"Your previous observation was correct. I'm not from here. I'm from Otogakure, the Hidden Sound village, under Orochimaru's (his name sounds familiar…) orders to collect all the emeralds and bring them back to him. All I had to do was wait until your twin and all of those ninja were out of the way, and for all the emeralds to be in one place so the gathering would be easier."

With all previous nervousness gone, I glare at him and raise my fists. I also ignore when he said that Shads and I were twins. "Sorry to burst your bubble, pal, but you're not taking these emeralds anywhere. I've already had someone try to claim them as her own today." Why are people here so power hungry?! Back home I only had Eggman to worry about…

Kabuto chuckles. "That is right. The hokage here wanted them too." He shakes his head. "Your black hedgehog friend has quite a temper." He then takes another step forward. The door an available escape route now, but I gotta get that emerald in his hand first. "Too bad he isn't here to help you."

I bristle my quills. "I really don't want to hurt you, but if you want these emeralds, you have to go through me first!"

The silver haired ninja smirks. "All I would have to do is knock you out."

"That won't be easy!" I then smirk. "Especially if I do…this!" At the end of my sentence, I quickly step towards Kabuto and try to snatch the gem right from his hand. As soon as I think I got a good grip on the emerald, it disappears completely.

Staring at the spot Kabuto once was, I mutter an intelligent, "Wha…?"

Then said ninja reappears to the right to where I was reaching, the white glow of the emerald reflecting off his glasses. Ugh, I would give anything (besides the emeralds) to wipe that smug grin off of his face. "You seem surprised. I just copied what that loud kid in the green did out in the field. You're just prolonging the inevitable Sonic. Just give up and let me take the emeralds."

"This isn't over till it's over!" I growl out and rush at him again, only for him to vanish like the first time. I sense him behind me and before I could move, something sharp slashes my right shoulder.

"Agh!" I yell out and place my left hand over the gash. Holding my hand to my face, I see blood covering about half of the glove. Even now I can feel the warm liquid running down my arm. Trying to move said appendage only agitates the wound more and brings on more pain. Dammit, I have to work through this to protect those emeralds!

Whirling around, Kabuto is standing there with no expression on his face, with no weapon in sight. I grit my teeth and ignore my shoulder wound. "How did you do that? You don't have any weapons!"

A one side of Kabuto's mouth twitches upwards. He holds out his unoccupied hand and blue chakra surrounds it. "This is a chakra scalpel. It might as well be a knife I can summon at will." I gulp at the sight. I'm going to have to be more careful not to be hit with that.

Like the last two times, I make a dash at him, and like I predicted, he chaos controlled. Standing still, I focus and wait patiently for him to make a return. Surprisingly, Kabuto pops up behind me again. I quickly turned around, not giving him anytime to attack, and kick him hard into his side. He grunts as he flies towards the wall only to right himself and land on his feet.

"Quick on your feet, I see."

"Shouldn't be a surprise to _you_." I mock, but soon wince because the blood hasn't stopped flowing from my shoulder.

He ignores that comment completely. "Since you won't give me the gems voluntarily," He grins darkly. "I'm gonna have to cut out the middleman!"

Kabuto, making the first move this time, goes out of existence and I fall into my fighting stance, ready to counter whatever he throws at me. For a split-second, everything is calm, then I see Kabuto in my peripheral and try to punch him. However, I'm too slow and he cuts my other arm, right above the elbow.

"Gah!" I hiss and feel that this cut isn't as deep as the other one, but it still hurts nonetheless.

I barely have any time to look at my adversary before he's gone again. This time, I frantically search around to prevent Kabuto from getting any more hits in. He reappears, but I'm not ready because this time he wasn't gone for nearly as long as when he first started chaos controlling. Caught off guard, Kabuto slashes the side of my left leg, high on the thigh.

I have almost no time to survey the damage before he strikes the same leg, below the knee. How the hell…? Then it feels like I've been hit in the face with a brick.

He knows, _really_ knows how to use the emerald now. That's why he's been getting faster and faster each time with the teleports. If he keeps this up…I…

Panicking, I quickly make my way back over to the other emeralds. If I used one, I would be able to stop his assault! At the stand, I reach out and am about to grab the closest gem, but I never get it because an unexpected hard kick to _my_ side sends me rolling over the bed and falling to the floor with a loud thud.

Groaning, I struggle to stand up because the crash led to the cuts on my leg to open wider. A puddle of blood is starting to form on the hardwood floor. As soon as I regain my balance and stand up, Kabuto is on me again, disappearing and reappearing, slashing anything and everything.

My arms.

Legs.

Chest.

Stomach.

Back.

_Face._

The pain is excruciating.

I have to do something, right _now._

Grunting, I curl into myself and start to spin. A little surprised, Kabuto jumps a safe distance away, eyeing what I'm doing warily. When I think I'm spinning fast enough, I lock on to Kabuto and charge right towards him.

As expected, he chaos controls out of my way. I, however, keep on going. Hitting the wall, I bounce off at an angle and head towards the one adjacent to it. Kabuto has popped back up at this point, so I bounce off that wall and head straight towards him.

He teleports again, but I'm not surprised. This time, I hit two walls and the ceiling before locking on to the grey haired Sound nin. Kabuto warps out of the way with plenty of time to spare, but that won't last for long. Every time I bounce of the wall, floor, or ceiling, I gain speed. Faster, faster, faster…

So by the sixth time he has dodged me successfully, I'm whizzing around the room like a ball in a pinball machine, leaving sizable dents everywhere in the room where I have hit. So when I finally crash into Kabuto, (right in the chest, extra points!) he soars across the room and hits the wall with a loud groan, slumping to the floor.

Uncurling, I end up crouching in the floor, panting heavily. Standing up, I plant a victorious grin on my face and limp over to the unconscious figure. When I get over to him, I see his glasses on the floor, cracked. I chuckle but then realize that Kabuto is still, too still. My eyes widen and I bend down to check his pulse.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I feel a soft one. Like I said, Sonic the hedgehog doesn't kill people.

Glancing to his hand, the emerald is still proudly glowing. With a small smile, I pry it from Kabuto's hand and stand back up. I turn around and survey the room damage. What I see makes the pain from all my injuries return ten-fold; the adrenaline has worn off.

There is blood everywhere. No doubt it's my own. Random puddles litter the floor and some drips from the walls where I've bounced off. There are splatters on the bed and even on the ceiling.

Letting out a shaky breath, I take a step forwards towards the night stand. I don't get any farther because my body feels like it's on _fire._ Especially my face. Bloody hand trembling, it reaches up and lightly brushes my cheek. I have to bite my tongue to hold back the pain induced scream bubbling up in my throat.

Slowly, I let that arm fall back to my side. Blinking, I now acknowledge that my sight is getting fuzzy and unfocused. Swaying a bit, I raise that same hand again to touch my first wound of the fight. Enduring the sting, I hold the hand up to my face to see it drenched. My heart nearly stops.

I'm bleeding out.

Breathing faster, I try to focus on the stand that seems so far away. I have to get them so I can chaos control to Tsunade! She's a doctor right? And she won't go back on her word about using the gems, so the tower will be the safest place to dump them. But now the task of getting the rest of them…

Taking another step, I start to see double as more blood drips from my wounds. No! My body can't give out now!

Risking yet another step, my left leg goes out and I land hard on my stomach on the floor. Desperate, I try to drag myself over using my arm without the emerald, but it wouldn't listen to me. I can't…I just…

Calm down Sonic.

The others will come looking. I'm the fastest thing alive! They should be worried if I'm not there by now, especially Shadow.

Black spots enter my vision and it's taking most of my energy just to keep my eyes open.

They'll come…

**Shadow's POV (starts right before Sonic leaves to go to Sasuke's house)**

Sonic glances at me. "Be a good boy while I'm gone, ok?" I scoff and watch him race off towards the house, his laugh filling the air. He acts like _I'm_ the one to get in trouble! I then think about what just happened in the tower…that was just a one-time thing. That blonde woman was pissing me off. Ugh, don't forget that now I have to play construction worker and playmate for punishment!

And then that faker has the nerve to take away my emerald! It's mine, dammit. Now, I feel sorta naked without its constant flow of energy. Sigh, that's the cost of wanting to see what these special humans (ninjas, I think) are made of. The chameleon from that detective agency pops into mind; I guess they are like him, but stronger.

Shifting my eyes from where Sonic disappeared around a corner, I look up at the only adult in this little group. "Are we just going to stand here all day or…?"

He glances away from that book that's always stuck to him like glue. Kakashi smiles. "Right, the training field." He makes a following motion as he jumps up onto the nearest roof. "Let's go by roof so we'll get there quicker."

I struggle to keep the impassive expression on my face as I watch all the kid ninjas jump on the same roof with ease in awe. The roof isn't exactly a low raising one either. I smirk to myself. This place gets more interesting by the second.

"Hey Shadow!" The wild haired, tattooed boy (…Kiba?) calls down to me. "You _can _get up here, right?" His large canines show as he grins cockily at me. The nerve of that boy…!

I scowl at him. "Of course I can." After squatting a bit, I quickly jump up on the same building and land beside Ino, who scoots over to get me some space with a faint blush on her face. I just roll my eyes.

Kakashi nods contently. "Sonic says you're his rival in speed, so that means you will easily keep up with us. That is, if what he said was true." He says his last statement in a questioning tone.

"That faker just says that." I smirk. "He's no match for me."

Neji eyes me. "Really? He has told us the exact opposite." Before I can answer to him, Sakura cuts in.

"Wait, why do you call him a faker?" Uh…do I _really _want to tell my whole life story to these people I literally just met this morning?

Nah.

I shrug. "I just do."

"Right…" I can tell she's not satisfied with that answer, but that's all she's getting out from me right now.

Getting tired of conversation, I activate my hover shoes. Naruto is in front of me laying on the roof, face not even an inch away from my shoes. I tick forms on my forehead.

"Wow! These are so cool! You're like an inch off the ground!" He looks up at me with excitement filled blue eyes. He _really _reminds me of the young fox back home. I can almost imagine the two tails swishing back and forth behind him. "Do you have an extra pair?"

"No, no I don't." While Naruto gets up with disappointment written all over his face, I glance around to see everyone, including Kakashi, looking at the shoes in child-like curiosity. A small sigh escapes my lips. "Can we get going?"

My question snaps all of them out of their stupor and Lee pumps his fist. "Yosh! We need to hurry so I can determine how much youthful energy my opponent contains!" My right eye twitches. Youthful…energy? I don't even want to know.

"Alright then!" Kakashi claps his hands together. "Let's get a move on!" With that, he speeds off, jumping from roof to roof. The others follow and I quickly start to skate, catching up with them.

Hopping from building to building, I realize that the village is much larger than I first thought it was. There are shops and apartment complexes galore. Every once and a while we pass by a large cluster of houses. Passing by one of those clusters, I hear the barking and whining of multiple dogs. Why would they have so many dogs is beyond me.

I also see a school like building with a playground behind it occupied with little kids. I scowl. That's no doubt where I'm going to have to _play _(insert shudder here) with the students. Stupid school, stupid woman, stupid wall…

I'm knocked out of my rather…childish rant when Sasuke appears by my side.

"Hey."

Curious to the reason behind his actions, I answer back. "Hello."

Cue awkward silence.

Sasuke sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. "Look. I know this seems…out of the blue." It does. "But, we started off on the wrong foot and I just want to start over. You seem like an interesting character."

I glare at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He doesn't flinch under my gaze. Huh, no one has been able to do that before. "That wasn't an insult." My eyes shift off of him and focus back on where we are going. In my peripherals, I see him glancing at me. "So can we start over?"

Hmmm…he doesn't seem too bad. I inwardly shrug. Might as well get along with someone while Sonic's gone. I give Sasuke a small nod. "Sure."

A small smile appears on his face. "Right. So…hey, the name's Sasuke." He looks at me expectantly.

I shake my head in exasperation. "This is so stupid." The smile disappears, but then I roll my eyes. "I'm Shadow." Sasuke lets out a small chuckle and, without my consent, the same sound exits my mouth.

"What brought this on?" I ask after silence fell over us again, that time a bit more comfortable.

Sasuke's face falls a bit. "Well, I found out that we're not that different from each other."

I warily glance at him. "What do you mean, 'found out'? I'm a complete stranger to you." Then I think about what just happened. "Or was."

Sasuke scratches the bridge of his nose. "Sonic kinda told me about Maria."

As soon as he finished saying those words, I start to see red. A growl escapes my lips. How dare that blue faker hand out my life story like that! Oooo…as soon as I see that blabbering idiot again…

"Shadow."

"_What?_" I snap. He doesn't seem fazed.

"Before you plan blue hedgehog homicide, he only told me after I told him my similar story." My vision is returning to its regular color palette as I listen for him to continue. Sasuke takes a deep breath. "My family was also taken away from me, killed, by my own brother." Surprised? Oh yes, but I don't let it show on my face. "Every single one of them, so I grew up alone because my brother left after he was done. I didn't let anyone in, until I meet this group." He gestures to his friends ahead.

"So yeah, I guess my point is that if you want to talk to someone who can empathize with you, I'm all ears." When I give him a hesitant nod, he returns it and speeds up to talk to Naruto. I furrow my eyebrows. That's all he wanted to tell me? That I can talk to him? I stare at his back.

Maybe, just maybe.

About five minutes later, the buildings run out and we have to jump down. Instead of running, we walk over a bridge that spans over a river. Naruto turns around and faces me, walking backwards, arms spread. "This is the Team 7 bridge, Shads!" I cringe. Oh no…the name is starting to spread.

Sakura audibly sighs. "Naruto, he really didn't need to know that."

"Agreed." Sasuke says.

"Awww…you guys are buzz kills!"

Sakura and Sasuke just shrug and continue walking beside a pouting Naruto. Shaking my head at them, I examine my surroundings. There are plentiful trees and green grass. Past the bridge, I see a large clearing with three seemingly random vertical sitting tree logs. Also there's-

Wait a second.

I stop in my tracks and whirl around to face in the direction we just came from. I felt the increase of energy of a Chaos emerald that's let out when someone uses a chaos control. My eyes narrow. What's Sonic doing over there? Playing with them?

Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I look behind me only to see Shino eyeing me, at least I think so because of those thick shades. "Is something the matter?"

My eyes shift back in the direction of the house, then back to him. Not feeling any more energy spikes, I answer. "I'm fine." Shino nods and steps away from me, towards the others who have stopped as well.

Kakashi, staring right at me, raises an eyebrow and I just nod at him. He returns it. "Let's continue everyone, we're almost there."

"What was that all about?" I hear Kiba mumble to Shikamaru, who shrugs.

"I have no clue."

We continue off the bridge and I don't let whatever just happened plague my mind. It's not long before we make it to where the three logs are. Kakashi turns around and clears his throat. "Now that we're here, Lee and Shadow take center stage while the others move to the side. Now because this is a spar…"

I don't hear the rest of what Kakashi is saying because I feel the energy of another chaos control. Sonic…what in the hell are you doing over there? My eyes narrow as I feel it again. I frown, and isn't Sonic supposed to be back anyway?

"Hellooo? Anyone home?" I blink when Lee waves a hand in front of my face. Glancing around, I see that the others have taken their spots on the side lines surrounding Lee and I. The green clad boy backs up when he gets my attention. He stops a couple yards away and drops into a fighting stance. "Are you ready?"

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I drop into a stance of my own. "Let's go."

Lee makes the first move and sprints towards me, fist ready to punch. When he's on me, I quickly duck and his fist goes right over me. I pull back my hand and hit Lee right in his stomach. He makes a strangled noise and backs up, holding his stomach. I grin as I stand back up. I may be a lightweight, but that doesn't mean you should underestimate my strength.

Lee recovers and smiles brightly. "Yes! May the flame burn within you!" He then charges again, coming at an arc this time. I follow him with my eyes and plan to counter whatever he plans to do.

Until I feel the energy again.

That's lapse in focus allowed Lee enough time to hit me with a hard right hook on my cheek. Stars appear in my vision and my tongue tastes the copper flavor of blood as I'm knocked to the ground. There are gasps of surprise from the spectators and I feel Lee's shadow blocking the warmth of the sun. I'm sure he's trying to talk to me, but I don't care about any of that. The chaos controls are happening more frequent now, faster and faster.

Groaning, I push away Lee trying to help me up. Rubbing my face, I see that the others are coming closer, Kakashi leading the group. A bruise is forming. I ignore all of them and look in the direction of the house, one hundred percent positive that Sonic's in trouble now. He wouldn't use chaos control so much for no other reason but a battle.

Lee backs away with a worried expression when Kakashi reaches me. "Shadow, tell me what's wrong. You weren't focused on the spar. And don't tell me it's nothing. You won't get smashed in the face for nothing."

The energy keeps on fluctuating. "You're right." My eyes shift to him. "Sonic's in trouble."

The silver haired ninja's eyes widen. "What? Are you sure?"

Irritated at his question, I growl. "He's the _fastest thing alive_! Can you tell me another reason why he isn't here?!" Did I just really call my rival that? No, it's just to get how dire the situation is through Kakashi's skull. Yeah, that's it.

"He's right sensei!" Sakura agrees. "Sonic should've been here a long time ago!"

Ino covers her mouth with her hands and her eyes widen also. "But, who would attack him?"

"I think I might know." Everyone turns to Sasuke, who is looking in the direction of his house. He narrows his eyes. "But I need to get there to confirm."

"Enough of this talking!" I growl and activate my skates. "We need to get there _now_!" I'm not feeling the energy anymore, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Kakashi's eyes turn serious. "Right." He starts to run back across the field. "This is an emergency! There isn't any time to dawdle!" He calls back and the genin follow full speed behind them with me on their trail.

We fly back through Konoha, taking the streets, roofs, short cuts, anything to get to Sasuke's house faster. I take a glance at said ninja and his face is unreadable. Also, his hand is on his left shoulder, gripping it tightly.

Making it to the outskirts of the village, I feel another chaos control and…I almost trip over my own feet.

I can't sense the emeralds.

Panicking a bit, I increase my speed and get in front of everyone, including Kakashi, for I know how to get to the house from here. After what it seems like an eternity, I make it to the front door first only to be stopped by Kakashi's voice.

"Stop Shadow!" Scowling, I look behind me to see Kakashi finally catching up to me along with the others in our group. He's not looking at me, but at the door. "We don't know the situation in there." He focuses on me. "You can't just barge in there alone."

He's right. But…I frown at the piece of wood standing in the way. Sonic could be dying in there!

"Well that everyone is here, "I grit out. "Can we go inside?"

Kakashi doesn't say anything; he just moves towards the door and raises a hand to turn the knob.

"Wait!" Oh come _on_! Growling, I whip around to glare at Choji, who is nervously eating a chocolate bar. He flinches at my gaze, but speaks nonetheless. "I have a _really _bad feeling about this…"

Tenten puts all weight on one leg and places her hand on her hip. "Ok that's comforting. Glad I'm not the only one who feels like that." She twirls a kunai around her finger. "I know we've been living here, but right now, this place gives me the heebie jeebies."

"It's definitely not just you, Tenten." Kiba adds, looking down in his jacket. I drop my gaze to his chest, where a shivering bulge is located. "Akamaru has been hiding in here ever since we have gotten close to this place!"

Frowning, I cross my arms. "Well you all can stay out here. I'm going inside."

"You're not nervous at all, Shadow?"

I turn to Sakura. "No."

Naruto huffs and steps up. "Not even a little bit?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Not nervous what-so-ever?"

"No." I growl out.

He eyes me. "I don't believe you."

Clenching my fist, I turn back to jonin. "Kakashi, do something about your student before I do something I probably won't regret."

He sweat drops and glances at Naruto. "Uh, I suggest you just stay quiet for the time being."

"But-"

"What did I just say?"

Naruto puffs his cheeks and pouts, but stays quiet anyway.

"Alright, in all seriousness…" Kakashi doesn't finish his thought because as soon as he turns the knob, I rush in and start to call Sonic's name.

"Sonic? Sonic!" I cub my hands around my mouth. "Dammit Sonic! Are you in here?!"

No answer.

"We can check his room. He might be sleeping." Sasuke walks up beside me and I can tell he doesn't even believe the words coming out of his mouth.

"Let's go then!" Naruto walks past us without a care in the world. Behind me, I see that everyone entered, even the nervous ones.

"Wait a second, Naruto. What did I say about going alone?"

Surprisingly, Naruto doesn't complain and he waits for all of us to catch up to him in the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, a foul odor reaches my nose. I pinch it. "Does anyone else smell that?" My voice is a bit altered. Not getting an answer, I turn to find everyone's face as pale as a sheet. Breaking into a cold sweat, I try to swallow the baseball sized lump in my throat. Taking another step forwards, Kakashi grabs my arm.

"Let me go first." Hesitantly, I nod and let him pass. We all trail him to Sonic's closed door where the smell must be emitting from for the stench is almost unbearable now. "Be ready for anything." He tells us, but I have a suspicion that it is mostly meant for me.

Kakashi opens the door quickly and bile rises up in my throat at what I see. The normally grey and boring room now has blood puddles on the floor and splatters all over the walls. The liquid is so fresh, that it's sliding down the walls like raindrops on a windowpane. Most of the room is painted with red, even the bed.

The jonin steps into the room, tries not to stain his shoes, and examines the place. I walk in after him, nose still plugged. Then I start to hear choked sobs from behind me, glancing back, I see the others still standing in the doorway with Kiba trying to comfort Hinata.

"W-What happened, hic, i-in h-here?"

"We don't know Hinata." Kiba says.

"But what we do know," Sasuke walks into the room followed by the rest of team 7. "is that someone got real hurt in here." That team setting an example, the rest of the genin slowly creep in.

"The real question is, was it Sonic?" Shikamaru asks, dragging a reluctant Choji farther into the room.

"And how blood got on the ceiling." Neji adds, looking up at the dark red stains up above.

Feeling a little less nauseous, I let go of my nose. Blocking out Hinata's sniffles, I look around and try to find something that'll tell us what happened here. We all just search the room for a while until I see Naruto pick up something from the bed that's covered in dried blood.

"Guys, I found something." We all, besides Kakashi, shift closer to him.

"What is it?" Ino asks, looking closely.

The blonde holds it right in front of his face. "I dunno. But it looks like a straight strand of string." After twisting and turning it, Naruto lifts his other hand and licks his pointer finger and thumb, moistening them. Naruto places the string between the two fingers and wipes off the residue.

As the blood comes off, I see that it isn't a thread at all, but a quill. More specifically, _Sonic's_ blue one.

Sakura shakes her head rapidly in denial. "No…"

Kiba himself looks a bit green in the face. "Does that mean that all this blood…" He glances around the room. "is Sonic's?"

"No." I quickly answer. "We shed our quills on occasion. This doesn't prove anything."

"But it proves that Sonic was in this room." Neji says, his pale eyes meeting my gaze. He's statement releases a tiny spark of fear in my chest.

Was.

_Was. _

Sonic _was _here.

Not anymore.

My fists clench at my sides. What happened in this room? And why in the hell is Sonic not here? I take a deep breath. It won't help to get too worked up about this; I have to keep a level head if I ever want to find out what happened.

"Shadow." I turn around to Kakashi to see him examining a small blood stain on the wall with a keen eye.

"What?"

"Come over here." Curious to what he wants, I shuffle over to him. He doesn't look at me when I get beside him. He points at the red splotch and turns his head towards me. "Do you see anything unusual here?"

I don't spot anything out of the ordinary besides the vivid color on the previously grey wall. Scrunching my eyebrows, I shake my head. "Get closer." I frown at him for the sharp order, but peer closer anyway. Nothing else is here, just the-wait a second. My gloved hand reaches up and, starting where the blood begins, drag it downwards, getting the glove dirty in the process. That's beside the point. I'm surprised to feel a small dip in the dry wall, like a dent.

"You feel that?" Kakashi asks and I nod. He focuses back on the spot. "They are everywhere in the room if you look close enough. Even the floor and ceiling. I wonder what caused this." His hand runs through his grey hair. "What or whoever it is was the one bleeding for most of the blood are coupled with these shallow dips."

I search the room. "They are everywhere, you say?"

"Yeah."

Finding another stain on an adjacent wall, I walk up to it. Sighing, I turn around and push my back against that spot, feeling the dip and not caring about the blood that gets on my quills. I have a theory, and I'm silently hoping it isn't true.

Focusing on Kakashi in the same spot as before, by the wall, I realize that the two spots are in perfect position for something like a ball to bounce off of with a straight flight path. My eyes go from there to the ceiling, where another dent is in perfect position. My theory is proven.

"Spin dash…" I mutter to myself.

"What was that, Shadow?" Sasuke, now holding the quill, gets closer.

"The damage to the walls are caused by a spin dash." I say louder and the group of genin tilt their heads in confusion. I step away from the wall and gesture to it. "If you look closely, you can see that it caves in. It happens everywhere the blood spatters are."

They all scatter and search the walls. "You're right." After finding one, Shikamaru looks at me. "A spin dash…that's one of Sonic's moves, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"That means," Kakashi moves away from the wall. "that this is Sonic's blood."

Ino gasps. "Oh my God…"

"This is bad…" Choji mutters.

I then hear low growling. Looking over to Naruto whose fists are shaking, I see his eyes closed. He snaps them open and I'm surprised to see them a blazing red, not the cool blue. He whirls around and punches the nearest wall, scaring anyone close to him. A crack forms where his hand connects.

"Who would do this?!" He snarls.

"Calm down Naruto!" Kakashi goes over to him and places a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "That's the next thing on our list to find out. We know you're upset, but breathe."

A few moments pass before Naruto takes a deep breath and lets it out. His eyes fade back to the more familiar blue, but they are still determined. "Whoever did this to Sonic will get what's coming to him!" Naruto pounds his fists together like a certain emerald guardian. Speaking of those gems, they are nowhere in sight either.

Kakashi nods. "We'll make sure of that."

"Hey, I found a piece of hair on the floor." We all look at Neji picking up said item by a wall. Standing up, he does the same thing Naruto did before and wipes off the blood. "It's grey."

"Grey?" Tenten asks. "Who do we know with grey hair?"

I glare suspiciously at Kakashi and he catches my gaze. He raises his hands defensively. "I didn't do it! I was with all of you the whole time and plus my hair isn't that light of a shade." I eye him for another moment before focusing back on Neji. I know he was with us the entire time, but I don't know his abilities to a full extent.

"Kiba."

The dog lover perks up. "What Neji?"

The long haired ninja holds the hair out. "Come sniff this."

"Ew! Why would I sniff some random dude's hair?"

Neji sighs exasperatedly. "To see if the smell is familiar to you and if the attacker lives in Konoha."

Kiba smiles sheepishly. "Right, I knew that." He walks up to Neji and as soon he is about to take a whiff, Akamaru pops out of his jacket and takes one of his own. The puppy starts to whine. "What is it Akamaru?" The pup answers with a small yip. "Snakes?" Akamaru nods his head to Kiba's question and disappears back into the jacket.

Kiba frowns. "I gotta see for myself." He takes a long sniff and his nose wrinkles up in disgust. "Ack! Akamaru was right! It does smell like snakes!"

Kakashi's eyes widen before narrowing. "Does it seem familiar to you?"

Kiba taps his chin. "Know that I think about it, I do recognize it. I haven't smelled it in a while though."

"How long?" Sasuke questions with uncharacteristic coldness.

"I don't know. I think the last time was during the Sand and Sound invasion."

"I _knew _it!" The raven snarls. He turns to Kakashi with cold eyes, quivering with rage. "It's _Kabuto._"

There is a tense silence in the room.

"Kabuto, as in _Orochimaru's _Kabuto?" Naruto asks angrily.

"The same." Sasuke replies in the same tone.

"Why would he attack Sonic?!" The blonde yells.

"Yeah…why?" Sakura asks softly.

I decide to include myself in the conversation. "Hold a minute." They all focus on me. "Who is Kabuto and this…Orochimaru?"

"Let's just say that they are enemy ninja." Kakashi answers after a brief pause.

Not satisfied with the answer, I glare up at him. "I'm gonna need a better answer than _that_ because this Kabuto person stole the emeralds too!"

Silence.

"_WHAT_!?" Everyone yells.

"W-What do you mean the youthful gems are gone?" Lee stutters.

"Precisely that. I can sense them if they are close by, but I don't feel them at all right now!"

"This has gotten a hundred times worse…" Shikamaru mutters, rubbing his temples.

I scowl and glance back up at the wide eyed Kakashi. "That's why I need to know who they are!"

The jonin shakes his head a bit. "Orochimaru is an enemy of the village and Kabuto is his apprentice. Long story short, Orochimaru wants to destroy the Hidden Leaf and will do anything to achieve that goal." Kakashi's eyes shift to a fuming Sasuke. "He has already tried with an invasion of the village. We luckily won, but with many casualties." He focuses back to me with a softer expression.

I don't like that look.

"He will do desperate things. If he told Kabuto to come here, to get the emeralds…"

No. The faker should have been able to protect himself.

"And if Sonic tried to stop him…"

He should have…

Kakashi turns away.

"_Shadow, what do you think it's like on Earth?"_

"_Shadow, are you going to stare out that window all day?"_

_"Shadow... I beg of you...please give them a chance to be happy."_

"_Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."_

_Maria…_

"He might be dead."

We lost Sonic the hedgehog.

_History repeats itself._


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Sorry for the wait ladies and gents! School's been kicking my but lately, but you aren't here for my life story! Without further ado…**

**Warnings- This chappie is a bit violent too…just expect the next couple of them to be the same.**

**Sonic: (pacing back and forth, eyes wide) This is bad. No. This is **_**beyond **_**bad! I just DIED!**

**Sasuke: (sighs) Kakashi said might…**

**Sonic: (pulls quills frantically) What's gonna happen now?! To the ninja, my friends back home, the emeralds, Shadow, the **_**story**_**?!**

**Sasuke: (glares) Sonic…**

**Sonic: (mutters) No more running, no more airplane rides, no more adventures…(gasp) **_**No more chili dogs! **_**NOOOOOO!**

***SMACK***

**Sonic: (rubs cheek) Ow…what was that for?**

**Sasuke: You were losing it. I had to do something.**

**Sonic: By slapping me?!**

**Sasuke: (brushes a strand of hair out of face) You weren't listening to me. Kakashi isn't 100% positive you are dead; he said **_**might.**_

**Sonic: Might…**

**Sasuke: (sighs yet again) Yes, might.**

**Sonic: So I have a chance…?**

**Sasuke: That's what I've been saying all along.**

**Sonic: (gives a thumbs up) I knew it! I'm not done for yet!**

**Sasuke: (sweat drops) But…**

**Sonic: I knew it. End of conversation.**

**Laughter**

Sasuke POV

"He might be dead."

Those four words exiting Kakashi's mouth suck up all the anger in the room only to replace it with different stages of sorrow. Hinata's sobs return with full force and this time she isn't alone. Ino, Sakura, and even Tenten are sniffing with watering eyes.

Lee is on his knees shaking his head, repeating 'no' like a personal mantra. Beside him is Naruto, whose bangs make it impossible to see his eyes, but the sadness is coming off him in waves. Shikamaru, Neji, and Shino just are gazing in random directions, indescribable expressions on their faces. Choji is eating his chips with less enthusiasm.

Kiba, petting a trembling and whining Akamaru, mumbles under his breath, "This is so messed up man…"

Lastly, Shadow is just staring up at my sensei, lips in a thin line, arms hanging loose at his sides. He seems indifferent towards the whole situation, borderline bored. But, I can see through his little façade, only because I've used the same mask. Hurt, sorrow, horror, and _loneliness _swirl within those ruby eyes of his. They are the windows to the soul.

My grip around the azure quill tightens. I glare at Kakashi, who has his eyes closed, faced slightly away from the immortal hedgehog. Yes, those four words sapped up all the anger from the room-

Except mine.

My eyes narrow even further. How can he say that to Shadow? I know he said might, but it's the _tone _he said it in. Kakashi thinks Sonic's dead and that is communicated to everyone in the room. Ugh! He doesn't even have any proof! I know things look bleak, but he just can't _assume!_

When I'm about to confront Kakashi, a sonic boom resonates in the room and all of us ninja fall onto the floor. The walls vibrate and shards of glass clatter to the hardwood. My ears start ringing and I put my hands over them to try to make it go away.

After waiting a couple seconds for the annoyance to leave, I stand up groaning. I'm not alone because all the others are doing the same thing. That fall wasn't an easy one. Looking over myself, my lips pull downward when I see that my clothes are stained with the blood that was once on the floor.

"My clothes! They're ruined!" Ino whines. Guess Iruka's gonna have a mass washing today.

"Calm down Ino." Shikamaru wipes off the red that got on his fingers. "They're just clothes."

"_Just clothes!?_" The female blonde shrieks and I wince, for I'm right beside her. "Forget it! You wouldn't understand anyway…"

Sakura puts a slightly stained hand on her friend's shoulder. "I understand Ino." She smiles.

Ino smiles back. "I knew you would! We are best friends after all!"

Kiba clears his throat. "Sorry to interrupt your uh, moment there, but we have to look for Shadow since he obviously isn't here right now." His voice gets softer. "Because Sonic is…" I'm going to stop him right there.

"He isn't dead." I growl out, surprising the whole room.

Kiba looks back and forth between me and Kakashi. "But, I thought-"

"He just can't assume." I say glaring at sensei. "Plus, didn't you hear his words? He said _might._"

"Yosh!" Lee pumps his fist. "Sonic can still be alive!" The atmosphere seems to brighten greatly.

"I don't know why I even doubted him! He can hold his own." Choji says cheerfully.

"Yeah," Neji starts. "From what I've heard is that Naruto beat Kabuto."

Said blonde gives a thumbs up. "That's right!"

"So, if Sonic could beat Naruto," The blue eyed genin starts to pout. "Sonic wouldn't have died against Kabuto."

Hinata wipes her teary eyes, leaving behind a streak of red. "H-He might still be i-in the village." She gives a small smile. "J-Just at the hospital."

Tenten pats her on her back. "Good thinking, Hinata! Of course he would be there! That's the place where they treat injuries after all."

"He will definitely be there! Let's go!" Naruto starts to move towards the door, but is stopped by Kakashi's voice.

"Wait a second." Naruto turns around to face him. The jonin sighs. "We don't know if he's even there; you all are making assumptions just like I was." He glances at me and I glare back, unyielding. Kakashi shakes his head minutely and examines everyone's state of cleanliness. "Another thing, before we go anywhere, we need to wash up. We can't just run around the village covered in blood without there being an uproar.

Kakashi runs his hand through his hair and turns towards the door. "Lastly, we have to find Shadow."

I take a couple steps towards the door. "I'll go find him. I have a good idea to where he is." I say without looking back. Shadow doesn't seem like the sociable type, so he wouldn't hang around where there are people running about. Plus, he's smart enough not to go somewhere he'll get lost. Really, the only place left is the training field we just came from.

Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I turn and look up at Kakashi with a raised eyebrow. He eye smiles. "What did I just say about going out covered in blood…?"

I sigh. "Clean up first." Shaking off his hand, I leave the room and feel relief that I don't have to be in that rancid place. Footsteps follow me as I make my way through the kitchen and living room. The others plop down on the couches in the latter and argue who is going to get the other shower. I smirk. One of the pluses of being the house owner.

After grabbing my soap, shampoo, and towel from my room, I head to the bathroom. Inside, I close the door, peel off my stained clothes and drop them in the bin. Turning on the shower, I wait a moment for the water to get warm before getting in.

I wash and then shut off the shower, stepping out. The steam resulting covers the entire mirror. Feeling refreshed and less uh, dirty, I dry off and wrap the towel around my waist. Out of the bathroom, I stop at the stairs.

"Bathroom's open." My voice carries down to the first floor. I turn and continue to my room, not waiting for an answer. In my room, I take out an identical shirt and shorts that I was wearing before and put them on. With a deep sigh, I fall backwards onto my bed. With a scowl, I pound my fist into the cover one good time.

I know that Sonic's not at the hospital. If he was, someone would've came and told us. ANBU or the hokage herself. I _know _that Kabuto took him. Who knows what state he's in right now? I glare at the ceiling. Who knows what they are _doing _to him right now?

I shake my head to clear those negative thoughts. Sighing for a second time, I get up off my bed and head out of my room to go downstairs. I'll think about Sonic later, as bad as that sounds. My immediate concern is Shadow.

On the first floor, everyone is sitting in comfortable silence, lost in their own thoughts. All of them are still dirty except for Shikamaru; Tenten and Choji are missing, most likely in the showers. My feet shuffle over to Kakashi who is leaning against the wall and guess what? Reading his book.

He looks up from his prized possession only when I'm right in front of him. "Hm?"

"I'm going to see if I can find Shadow now."

Kakashi just stares for a moment and then waves his hand dismissively. "Go ahead. We all are going to the hospital while you're gone."

Nodding, I leave him and head for the front door. I pause with my hand on the knob and turn my head slightly towards the jonin. "You didn't have to be so blunt about it."

Kakashi sighs. "I know."

With that, I leave the house and take the trees, eventually the roofs in the village to get to my destination. In the village, while I'm traveling over the streets, I sense a presence behind me. Fear blooming in my chest, I whip around and throw a kunai in the direction of the follower.

That spark of fear disappears however when I see Shikamaru nimbly dodge the projectile. Stopping on the roof I'm on, I let the shadow manipulator catch up to me. When he does, he's a little more than annoyed. Don't blame him.

"Sorry. I'm just on edge."

The annoyance on his face melts away and he nods. "It's fine. Should've told you I was coming."

Thinking we could continue this conversation on the run, I jump to another roof, continuing to the training ground. I hear the soft steps of Shikamaru following and he ends up beside me.

"Why are you following me anyway? I thought you would have stayed with the others."

Shikamaru sighs. "It would've been too much of a drag to search for something that isn't here in the first place."

I'm not really surprised, he's called a genius for a reason. "So, you will agree with me if I say that Kabuto took him."

He nods. "Completely. If Sonic was dead, his body would have still been in the room. Also, _someone_ would've told us if he was emitted to the hospital."

"Now the real problem is:" I frown. "how are we gonna find him?"

Shikamaru thinks for a while. "Well, Kabuto took all the emeralds, so Shadow could track them down."

I shake my head at that. "He can't, remember? In the room he said that he couldn't sense the emeralds."

He scrunches his eyebrows. "Right, forgot about that. In that case, we could get Kiba to track Sonic using his scent."

My eyes widen. "That could work. We'll tell them when we get back, if they are at the house."

Shikamaru just yawns and we fall into comfortable silence as the village passes by. Looking up at the sky, I realize that is about three in the afternoon. So much has happened today, meeting a new roommate and almost getting shot by him, that same roommate blowing a hole through a wall of the hokage tower, then Sonic going missing. And the day's not even over yet.

The line of buildings finally end and we jump down and cross the team 7 bridge. Nearing the clearing, the grunts and something hitting wood is heard by the two of us. Reaching the end of the bridge, we can now see Shadow punching and kicking one of the logs in the middle of the field. He hasn't noticed us yet.

Holding an arm out in front of Shikamaru, I whisper to him, "Let me go first." Shadow is unpredictable, from what I've seen, under normal conditions. So, this might not be pretty. "Stay back for a while."

Shikamaru looks hesitant. "You sure?"

I nod and drop my arm. "Positive. Sonic's probably the only one who can calm him down right now, but since he's MIA, I'm going to have to fill in for him."

He nods. "Be careful."

"Always." I walk over to the panting hedgehog, grass crunching under my sandals. As I get closer, I can hear him mumbling to himself, but I can't catch what he's saying. Eventually, I get right behind him, and he still hasn't acknowledged my presence. Glancing behind me, Shikamaru is in the same place I told him to wait at. I'm glad someone else like the dobe didn't follow, my order would've passed right over his head.

Facing back forwards, I take a deep breath. "Shadow."

He continues to beat up the poor piece of wood, either not hearing or ignoring me.

"Shadow."

Nothing.

A little annoyed at this point, I put a hand on his shoulder and barely get the first syllable of his name past my lips before it is slapped off his body so hard that I'm surprised that it is still attached to my body. I wince at the harsh treatment of my arm. Shadow stops moving, but his back is still facing me.

"Shadow…" I whisper softy.

"Leave me alone…" I strain to hear what he was saying, but I don't catch anything.

"What was that?"

"I said, leave me the _hell _alone!"

Next thing I know, there is a sharp pain in my abdomen and I'm thrown backwards, rolling to a stop where Shikamaru is standing.

"Sasuke!" Shikamaru yells worriedly while I struggle to pick myself up with one arm, the other holding my soon-to-be bruised stomach. "You alright?"

Now I'm kneeling on the ground. "Yeah." I cough out. Looking up, Shikamaru is holding out his hand and I take it, standing back up. "Just didn't expect that to happen." I glance back over my shoulder to see Shadow going back at it again, only harder.

Shikamaru lets go of my hand and glares past me at the striped hedgehog. "Are you sure you don't need me over there? Or me to hold him with my shadow?"

I shake my head. "I'll be fine; I'll be ready this time."

He nods. "You better."

With that, I make my way back over to Shadow, careful not to breathe too deeply for dull pain resonates from my stomach every time I do. Standing behind the hedgehog again, I take a risk and place my hand back on his shoulder again.

His voice is dripping with venom. "Get away from me!"

Shadow slaps the hand away again and goes for the same punch, but I'm ready for it. After dodging that punch, Shadow quickly recovers and aims that same fist at my head. I put my arm up to block the attack and wince at the force behind the swing. That's bruise number two.

Shadow's eyes narrow and a deep growl raises from his throat. Pulling back that fist from my arm, he raises his other fist and again aims for my stomach. I grab that hand and use Shadow's surprise to my advantage. Turning him around 180 degrees, I twist his arm behind his back and Shadow makes a pained noise.

I then push him to the ground and straddle him from behind, lucky for his small structure. Shadow is still trying to hit me with his other hand, so I grab that one harshly and join it with the other arm. He then kicks me repeatedly on my back with his feet, nothing I can do but endure them.

Now, Shadow is squirming and trying to get up from under me. "Shadow! It's over! _Stop fighting!_"

"Get the fuck _off_ me!"

"No! Shadow, you have to listen to me!" I grunt in pain as my back starts to bruise from the repeated thumping. My pain threshold is large, but Shadows kicks are nothing to laugh at. "Calm down! Sonic isn't dead!"

Shadow freezes.

"What…?" I can barely hear the chocked question.

I sigh in relief when the kicking stops. "You heard me. If he was dead, his body would still be in the room." Shadow relaxes in my hold and he lets his head drop to the ground, along with his legs. "He's alive." I say, trying to get it through his head.

There is silence for a while until I hear Shikamaru take a step forward. Looking up, I meet his gaze and shake my head. Hoping he understands that I don't want him to come any closer even now. Shikamaru focuses at the quiet Shadow, then back at me. He nods and backs up.

Feeling slight tremors coming from the body under me, I look down with my eyes wide. Is he…crying…? Why would he be…then it hits me.

"This isn't all about Sonic…is it?" I ask. "This brought back up painful memories from the past, about Maria, didn't it?"

The tremors slowly stop and I feel Shadow take a deep breath.

"….again…."

"I didn't catch that, Shadow."

He turns his head to the side and his eyes are closed. "I thought I lost someone again…" He opens his eyes and I almost gasp to see all the emotion contained within them; I can empathize with him. "That I couldn't do anything to stop the murder…"

"_There is no value in killing the likes of you…My foolish brother…"_

I give him a small smile. "I get it, Shadow. I understand."

He returns the gesture, then weakly glares at me. "Get off me, please."

Right, I'm still sitting on him. "Sure." Letting go of his arms, I get up and stand to the side. Shadow stands up and rolls his shoulders. I chuckle a bit and he rolls his eyes. I then wince when the action reminds me of my bruised stomach. Shadow eyes me cautiously.

"Sorry about that."

I scoff. "It's nothing."

Shadow smirks. "Sure it isn't."

"Everything good here?" We both look over to see Shikamaru walking over, glancing in between us with bored eyes.

"Yeah." I see Shadow nod in the corner of my eye.

"Great. Now let's get back to the others." Shikamaru looks over Shadow and sees red on his coat not natural to him. "And get you cleaned up."

Shadow just sighs and activates those shoes of his. If only he had an extra pair…"Shall we?"

Shikamaru and I nod and we all sprint back towards the house.

Opening the front door, I can tell that the others are gone to go the hospital. Shikamaru and Shadow follow after me. "Shadow." Said hedgehog turns towards me, eyebrow raised. "While you take your shower, we are going to meet up with the others at the hospital to discuss on how to find Sonic."

Shadow stares blankly at me and crosses his arms. "Three things. Why are they at the hospital in the first place? You are going to leave me here _all alone._ I can take care of myself, but I'm just saying. Lastly, shouldn't I be part of the discussion?"

Before I could, Shikamaru answers, "Well, they thought it would be the best place for Sonic to be because he was injured. Um, we're pretty sure you can handle yourself. Plus, I doubt Kabuto or Orochimaru would be coming back to this house any time soon. And lastly, we'll tell you the choice we make about Sonic."

Shadow gives a small smirk. "Since you thought this all out, I don't have to worry huh? Alright." He then heads for the stairs.

"Wait!" I call. "You can use my shampoo and stuff. My room is the last one in the hallway on the right. Towels are in the closet by the bathroom."

Shadow nods and continues upstairs.

Shikamaru sighs and turns around to head back outside. "He's more of a handful than Sonic is."

I just shrug. "In some ways."

That said, we go off to find the others.

We find them walking back towards the house, about five minutes away from the hospital. Everyone is looking down at the ground, taking slow steps, besides Kakashi, who is looking up with a thoughtful expression.

We drop down from the roof we were on. "Any luck?" Shikamaru asks.

Kiba sighs and crosses his arms. "No…He wasn't there."

"We knew it all along." I speak up and everyone focuses on me. "Don't you think that someone would have told us that Sonic was in there?"

Naruto sighs and throws his hands up into the air. "Thanks for telling us earlier!"

I smirk. "Well, if you used your brain, you would've thought that too."

Naruto turns red in the face. "Shut up! You still shoulda said something!"

"…Hn."

"TEME!"

"Now that we learned that we wasted our time," Neji interrupts. "did you two find Shadow?"

The group begins to walk again.

"Yeah." I answer.

"And he has the bruises to prove it." Shikamaru adds and I glare at him. He just shrugs and looks at the clouds above.

There are two identical squeals. "Seriously?" Sakura asks, her eyes filled with worry.

"Where did he hit you?" Ino comes over to me and attempts to lift my shirt. I growl and push her arms away. She gasps. "On your stomach?" There is fire in her eyes now. "When I see the rodent again, I'll…"

Hinata grabs her arm. "D-Don't do that Ino! Maybe S-Shadow was just d-distressed. He thought a f-friend had d-died."

Ino calms down and sighs. "Your right. But the next time he touches my Sasuke, he's gotta deal with me!" I shiver at her words. _Her _Sasuke?

"Why isn't he with you two?" Kakashi asks.

"He's taking a shower." Shikamaru mumbles, then he gets serious. "We came here to talk about finding Sonic." I nod in agreement.

"Go ahead."

"Well, we can have Kiba sniff Sonic's quill and try to track him." Shikamaru glances to me and I pull out the quill that I had put in my pocket. I hold it out to Kiba, who sighs.

"What is with today and smelling hairs…" He comes closer and takes a big whiff of Sonic's scent. He backs away and smells the air. His face grows confused.

"What is it Kiba?" Tenten asks.

Kiba moves in a circle sniffing before answering. "I can't smell him!"

"What?!" Naruto shouts. "What do you mean?"

"I _mean_ I can smell him in the direction of the house, but it seems like it ends there!"

"That's impossible! Unless he teleported, there should be at least a small trail!" Choji says.

Wait. Teleport?

The _Chaos Emeralds._

"It's possible."

Kiba looks over to me. "How?"

"The emeralds. Kabuto took Sonic and the emeralds, so he must've used them to transport to where ever he wanted to go."

Everyone tenses when I mention his name.

Naruto growls and clenches his fist. "That sneaky little…" He then rounds on Kakashi. "What are we gonna do, sensei?!"

The jonin stares at Naruto, then his eyes roam around to all of us. "We can't do this by ourselves, it's too dangerous. We have to inform this situation to the Hokage so she can send an ANBU team to go find him."

"But-" Sakura starts.

"No buts." Kakashi says in a tone that can't be argued with. He turns towards the tower. "Let's go." We all follow when he sprints towards the tower.

"Wait!" Everyone looks back at me. "I'll go get Shadow."

Kakashi nods and we all go to our destinaitions.

**Kabuto POV**

I let out a dark chuckle as all the chaotic energy the emeralds flow throughout my body. This is _much _different with only one gem to use. This answers all the questions of why Lord Orochimaru wanted to obtain these things…for the never ending _power._

Suddenly, I'm out of that bloody room and inside one of the hallways inside our current base in the Land of Sound, Otogakure. Not used to the quick scene change, my body rocks back and forth a bit until I find my balance.

Now my glasses are threatening to fall off my face, but I don't have any hands to fix the problem for I have to carry all seven of the unwieldy gems. I grin. This is definitely worth the discomfort.

Looking down the hallway, I realize that the door to Orochimaru is right at the end. Hm, not bad for a first time long distance teleporter.

Shifting the gems a bit, I get ready to head that way when a voice echoes off the walls.

"Hey Four-eyes!" I close my eyes and sigh. I was hoping to avoid them today…

Accepting my fate, I turn around only to be face-to-face with a dark pink, almost red, haired girl. Glaring at her, I take a step back since she clearly isn't going to.

"What is it, Tayuya?"

She just glares and crosses her arms. "Damn, can't a friend just say hi?"

Running out of patience, I snap. "We both know that's not what you came here to do."

Tayuya narrows her eyes more, then smirks. "You're right." She flicks the hair in her face away only to fall right back into place. She then points behind her with her thumb. "I was just stalling until the rest of my group, aka: the slowpokes, catches up."

As soon as she stops talking, I hear rapid footsteps. Peering over Tayuya, Sakon/Ukon, Jirobo, Kidomaru are running up behind her. The last two stop behind Tayuya, hands on their knees, panting.

"We…_wheeze_…aren't that…_cough…pant…_"

Sakon interrupts Kidomaru when he stomps up to the girl and jabs a finger in her face. "We are _not_ slow, dammit!" He then glances behind himself at the other half of the group. "Well, I know Ukon and I aren't. It's not _our _fault you just ran away like that!"

Tayuya's smirk widens and she waves a dismissive hand. "Don't give me excuses that are pulled out of your ass."

Sakon glares dangerously at her, but before he could do anything, Jirobo steps in between the two going at it. "Calm down you two; there is no reason to start a fight." He glances at Tayuya. "And that's not the way a lady should speak."

The kunoichi rolls her eyes. "Hmph, whatever."

"Whoa!" Kidomaru exclaims coming towards me, apparently regaining his breath. His eyes are focused on the gems in my arm. He then links two of his six hands together and puts them behind his head. A smirk forms on his face. "So you got 'em, huh?"

"Obviously." I retort. My eyes then widen a fraction when my other package start to slip off my shoulder. Most likely because the dripping blood has made it easier to slide. Grunting, I use my other arm that is holding it up to push it back up to a more comfortable position.

All of the Sound Four's eyes widen and I'm surprised they haven't noticed sooner.

Jirobo steps closer and pokes the sack of potatoes (figuratively, of course) thrown over my shoulder. "Why," He starts. "may I ask, do you have the blue hedgehog?"

Sakon steps closer as well and checks the rodent's pulse. He turns towards me and tilts his head in confusion. "And still alive?"

I frown, thinking back about the fight I just had with him. "He…put up a decent fight."

Tayuya eyes me. "Oh really?" She start to poke and prod my body.

A tick forms on my forehead. "What in the hell are you doing?"

Without looking up, she responds, "Just searching on why it was a _decent_ fight." I'm about to respond, but she touches my chest and I wince, that's where that stupid rat slammed right into me. "Ah ha!" She chuckles. "He got you good!"

A deeper voice joins in. "Looks like you're getting rusty." Ukon turns towards me with a smirk. "Eh, Kabuto?"

"He just surprised me, that's all." I say scowling.

"Sure he did." Sakon taunts.

"I don't have the time nor the patience for this." I mumble under my breath as I turn away from them and continue on towards the door. To my chagrin, footsteps follow my all the way to the door. I don't even bother telling them to leave. They wouldn't go away anyway.

I stare at the door and notice a problem. Guess the ninja behind me can be useful right now. Stepping aside, I glance back at them. "Can one of you knock?"

Tayuya grins and strides forward. "I'll do it." She taps the door three times with her knuckle and almost immediately a hissing voice responds.

"Come in…"

Tayuya opens the door and with mischief in her eyes, holds it open for me. I ignore her nonverbal taunt. We all pack into the open room with multiple tables lining the walls for when Orochimaru brings in a new…experiment. Said legendary Sannin is sitting in a table on the far side of the room where the shadows start.

"I'm sure the mission was a success, yes?" I nod, knowing he can see me even if I can't see him. He chuckles. "Perfect." With no sound, he steps out of the shadows and examines the gems with a dangerous glint in his eyes; a dark smile grows on his face.

He then looks at my face and then the package on my shoulder. I might have imagined it, but his eyes widen in surprise before going back to that dangerous glint. He comes even closer and plucks the red emerald from my grasp. He holds it up and chuckles.

"Yes…the _power._" He licks his lips with his abnormal tongue. "We can definitely use these to our advantage…"

Kidomaru speaks up. "Can I hold one?"

Orochimaru glares at him. "Absolutely not!" He turns his attention back to the others in my arm. "At least, not yet. First, I'm going to find a way to harness the power of the emeralds and share the endless energy between all of us so we can be unstoppable and destroy Konoha once and for all." He then grins.

"Also make Sasuke surrender and come with us. Why waste his sharingan?"

After his rhetorical question, there is a moment of silence, then I speak up. "What do I do with this?" I point to the still bleeding, but not as badly, body and Orochimaru thinks for a second. He then gestures to a table off to the side.

"Just put drop him there."

"Yes sir." I walk over the place the limp, barely breathing body on the metal table, placing the six remaining emerald on a side table by it. Kidomaru tries to quickly snatch one, but I hit his hand and glare at him. He grins sheepishly and goes back to where Sakon, Ukon, and Tayuya are arguing over something not important.

"I'll think about what to do about him…later…" Orochimaru pauses in his path and looks over to the hedgehog. He then comes over and examines him with his eyes.

"What is it, Lord Orochimaru?" Jirobo asks, noticing the ninja's intent stare.

Orochimaru smirks and chuckles. He turns to me. "Strap him down." I raise an eyebrow, but follow his orders anyway. I turn Sonic onto his back and stretch out his arms and legs so I can strap them to the table.

Once I'm done, I then ask him, "Why?"

"Because," He hisses out gleefully. "Why get our hands dirty if there is someone else that can do our job for us?"

Jirobo glance at each other, then back at the snake Sannin. "But how-"

Orochimaru cuts him off. "Kabuto, how long do you think he will be out for?"

I glance down at the body and see that he has stopped bleeding. This one can heal fast. "I would say in about three hours." I answer looking back up at Orochimaru.

He is staring at Sonic like a predator about to pounce on his prey. "It'll be worth the wait." He walks off.

**Three hours later**

I'm going to need some medicine if I hear the Sound Four argue for any longer. They have been off and on, but when they do, it isn't quiet. Orochimaru, surprisingly, doesn't seem to mind, for he is lost in his own thoughts. Sighing, I rub my temples.

There is a groan from the other side of the room and the occupants get quiet immediately.

We all walk over to the hedgehog, Orochimaru is front of course. We surround him. At the table, Sonic is moaning and groaning, trying to wake up from his unconscious state. He finally blinks his eyes open.

"Ah…wha…?" He voice is raspy and horse. Sonic clears his throat and looks at us with confusion written all over his face. He finally gets to me and his eyes widen. "You!" He attempts to raise his arm to I guess point at me, but his wrist is tied down. Sonic tries to desperately loosen himself. He winces occasionally from his wounds. "Why am I all tied up?" He turns to me for an answer, but I'm as clueless as he is.

Orochimaru smirks. "There's a very good reason, _Sonic._" He voice is laced with poison and Sonic visibly recoils from it.

"Dude, you really need to go to a doctor to get your voice checked out."

Tayuya chuckles, but quickly shuts up when I elbow her in the side.

The snake's smirk gets wider. "There isn't anything wrong with it. You shouldn't be worried about me though. You will feel more pain than you have ever have gone through if you don't agree to my commands."

Sonic scoffs. "Look, you obviously don't know me even though you had those spy snakes or whatever, but I don't take orders from anybody."

Orochimaru roughly pushes Sonic's head over to the side, making him cry out in pain. "If I was in your position, I would take any opportunity given to me, _rat._"

"Hey! I'm not a-" The Sannin pushes harder, cutting off Sonic with the rodent's own yell.

Orochimaru grins at the sound. "Now, I'll give you another chance. I want you to take these emeralds, go super," My own eyes widen. So that's his plan…and I like it. "and burn Konoha to the ground."

Sonic, unable to speak because of the shock of the rough treatment, just shakes his head as much as he can in a clear sign of 'no'.

The grin stays on the ninja's face. "Remember, _you_ caused this on yourself." Orochimaru bends down to get closer to the exposed neck, still forcing the hedgehog's head the opposite way. Sonic tries to struggle against his hold, but between the straps holding him down and Orochimaru's hand, he doesn't get anywhere.

"Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Sakon asks.

Without looking up, Orochimaru hisses, "Yesss…" He gets even closer to Sonic's neck and he pauses a millimeter away from it, seeming amused at the pointless squirming. He chuckles and bites down. After a second, he straightens back up and I can see two bleeding puncture holes at the base of the neck. Sonic stops trying to get away and glances warily up at Orochimaru.

"What did you do-"

Then agonizing screams pierce the air.

Sonic is yelling his lungs out, writhing in pain right there on the table. The seal appears and it is similar to Sasuke's curse seal of Heaven. Glancing around, I see the blank faces of the Sound Four. Eyes shifting to Orochimaru, I can tell he is soaking in every second of Sonic's pain.

"Now you'll follow me in my thirst for power! And since you are _preoccupied _right now," Orochimaru chuckles and pulls back out the red emerald. He sets it down with the others on the stand by the table. They all start to glow and circle around Sonic. Orochimaru's dark grin widens on his face. "You can't reject the chaotic energy of the emeralds!"

The emeralds begin the spin faster and faster before being absorbed into Sonic's body. I'm not sure it was possible, but Sonic's screams get _louder._ I have to keep myself from blocking the noise with my hands. Looking side to side, the Sound Four can't take the noise and bring their hands up to their ears.

"What are you doing to him?" Kidomaru yells over Sonic.

Orochimaru keeps on looking at the hedgehog with a crazed glint in his eyes. "You'll see…" I can barely hear him over the noise.

Turning back to Sonic, my eyes widen a bit to see him a golden yellow. Then, they zero in on the curse mark only to see purple haze emitting from it, spreading around Sonic's body. This continues for another minute before the pained yelling stops. Sonic's body relaxes and the Four lower their hands, examining the rodent closely.

"Is it done?" Jirobo asks and as an answer to his question, a very bright light rivaling the sun fills the room. We all, including Orochimaru, close our eyes and back away from the burning gleam, faces turned away.

This goes on for a couple seconds before we hear a low chuckle. Surprised, I open my eyes quickly and the others do so also. I almost take another step back when my eyes take in the sight in front of me.

Sonic is now _standing_ on the table, out of the straps. His eyes are closed, but there is a wicked grin showing sharp canines on his face. That isn't the only thing, his hair is yellow, like before on the table, but more…_wild._ Also, at the end of his fingers are claws instead of regular nails. Glancing at his body looking for more changes, I realize that all of his previous injuries are gone. The black flames of the curse seal are slowly creeping up to his face.

Sonic finally opens his eyes they are blood red swirls instead of the vivid green of before. The whole look makes him seem crazed, murderous even, more so than Orochimaru. Those slightly unfocused eyes travel to each and every one of us, stopping at the aforementioned ninja.

Before Orochimaru could speak a word, Kidomaru smirks. "So you're gonna help us beat Konoha?" The smirk widens. "The Hidden Leaf is so not prepared for this. Game over for them."

Sonic narrows his unique eyes, then does the last thing I would think he would've done.

He throws his head back in laughter.

No, it's more like a _hysterical_ _cackle_.

The crazed sound sends a shiver down my back undividedly. Guess this is what it feels like to be on the receiving end.

He calms down the wipes away a single tear that has formed. "Good joke guy, good joke." His voice is a bit deeper as well.

I hear Kidomaru mutter, "Joke? What is he talking about?" I'm confused as well.

Sonic then glares death at the six armed boy and growls. "And didn't I tell you I don't take orders from anybody?" He then gives a taunting smirk. "How about we play a little game?"

Kidomaru seems taken back by the change in personality and by the question itself. "Uh…what?"

Sonic continues like he didn't hear him. The golden hedgehog examines his new claws. "What about tag?" He looks back at the boy and grins. "I'm it. Guess what the loser loses?"

Kidomaru glances at the other people of the Four, and they just shrug, not really taking their eyes off of the animal. He sweat drops. "I don't know…"

Sonic chuckles darkly. "Your life."

He then disappears from the table and I hear a blood curdling scream. Looking back, I see a yellow blur quickly zipping and crisscrossing in front of Kidomaru. Every second that passes, cuts and slashes appear on his body, ripping his clothes which are becoming stained with red. Kidomaru's screams are heard the whole time.

Sonic then stops in front of him, smirks, and slashes the screaming kid's chest open. Blood spurts out on the hedgehogs face and he doesn't seem bothered by it, in fact, the smirk grows, showing his sharp teeth. Quickly bleeding out, Kidomaru struggles to stay on his feet. His unfocused eyes trained on the glowing rodent in front of him. The former coughs up some blood and slumps to the floor, life leaving him.

This all happened in less than thirty seconds.

There is a tense silence.

Tayuya steps forward. "You _asshole_!" Her eyes are filled with unshed tears. She then readies her flute. "You're gonna pay for this!" The smirk on Sonic's face doesn't waiver.

Before she can play a single note, Sonic disappears and I feel is a faint gust of wind. Half a second later, I hear flesh and cloth ripping. My eyes widen. The two are standing close to each other and I hear the clatter of the flute dropping on the stone floor. Tayuya's face is full of shock while Sonic's hasn't changed from before, that same _damned _smirk.

He shakes his head in mock disappointment. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You really need to watch that little mouth of yours." Sonic twists his clawed hand embedded in Tayuya's abdomen and an animalistic screech fills the air. Sonic's eyes sparkle with mirth. "But wait." He tilts he's head a bit to the right and he chuckles. "You won't be able to use it in a couple seconds, right?"

The only answer he receives is a strangled gurgling noise from the girl's throat.

"Thought so." With a grunt, Sonic roughly pulls out his hand drenched with blood and Tayuya drops to the floor with a thud.

"You son of a _bitch!_" The slightly different voices of Sakon and Ukon yell simultaneously.

"You're nothing but a monster." Jirobo growls out, and showing no fear, steps right up to Sonic, looking down because of the drastic height difference. The bone dense boy scowls down at the hedgehog trying to intimidate him. Sonic doesn't seem fazed by the look.

"I take that as a complement." Sonic says cockily and then floats (he can _fly _now?) up to be face-to-face with Jirobo. Said ninja takes a step back in surprise when Sonic holds up one of his bloody fingers, and gives it a long lick. Jirobo loses his scowl and it is replaced with a look of disgust.

"You're sick…"

Sonic smirks and drops his finger. "Tell me something I don't know." He then flickers away and before Jirobo can react to his disappearance, the hedgehog appears right behind him. The Sound Four (Duo?) member barely has time to glance at Sonic before the rodent kicks him hard in his head sending him flying into the nearest cement wall. The sickening crack echoes in the room.

The homicidal hedgehog drops down to the floor and quickly sidesteps to the left to avoid an incoming fist from Sakon. The last of the Sound Four briefly loses his balance, and before Sonic can make any move to attack, Ukon tries to jab him with a fast punch to the stomach. Sonic catches said hand and bends it back. Ukon barely hold back a yell as the bones crunch and grind together unnaturally. Sonic lets go and the arm phases back into Sakon's body.

"So, you two got this freaky Siamese twin thing goin' on?" Sakon, after regaining his balance, turns around and growls threateningly while Sonic sadistically grins. "I'll enjoy playing with you two…"

There is a stare down between the two, or three, for a full minute before Sakon lunges. Using their bloodline limit, an extra arm, like before, appears and helps as they hit Sonic with their lightning fast punches.

Or should I say, _attempting_ to.

Sonic is dodging so fast that there are afterimages showing up. This goes on until the hedgehog spots an opening and uppercuts the twins in the stomach. With a grunt, the grey haired ninja goes flying and then slamming against the opposite wall. Groaning, they stand back up and Sonic dashes over to them, holding a kunai against Ukon's neck. He must've got that when they were punching. With no hesitation, he slits his throat.

"No! Ukon!" Sakon cries out.

Sonic snickers. "Don't worry, you'll be joining him in no time…" He then does the same with the brother.

They slump down to the floor, blood dripping. Sonic drops the kunai and turns around, eyeing Orochimaru, who's been watching the whole even in silence, and me. Then, unexpectedly, the Sannin grins and takes a step forward.

"Seems like you're enjoying your newfound power, yesss?" He hisses and Sonic just crosses his arms. For the first time, his mouth isn't upturned, instead set in a thin line. He obviously isn't going to answer the ninja, so Orochimaru continues, daring another step closer. "Just think of what you do with it." He licks his lips with his long tongue. "And since I gave you said power, you are coming with us to Konoha to destroy everything in it. You can test your limits, this is an answer you can't refussse."

Sonic just stands there, eyes boring into Orochimaru.

He finally answers with that same smirk on his face. "No."

Orochimaru's eyes widen before narrowing into a withering glare.

Sonic returns it. "Let me say this again. I don't take orders from _anyone_." He then charges forward and kicks the snake straight in the chest, the latter not even expecting the move. He slams against the wall not unlike how Ukon and Sakon did earlier.

"Lord Orochimaru!" I call out.

No response.

Squinting, I see that his chest is moving up and down, faint, but still there. I focus back onto Sonic when he sniggers, holding up his stained, clawed hands. "But, he's right." The grin grows. "With my power…haha…I can do…hehehe…_**anything!**_ _HAHAHAHAHA!_" I wince as his crazed and hysterical laughter fills the air. This is the first time for as long as I can remember…

That I've felt pure, unadulterated, _fear._

The cackling stops and he turns towards me. His red spiral eyes lock with mine. "I've been saving you for last." He steps closer. "We never finished our fight, have we?" He snickers again, then lunges.

I didn't have time to scream.


	23. Chapter 23

**Sasuke: (eyes wide) …**

**Sonic: (ears lowered) …**

**Sasuke: …what…?**

**Sonic: (sighs) Don't say anything…**

**Sasuke: (sputters) But you just ki-**

**Sonic: (glares)**

**Sasuke: Alright, shutting up.**

** Fall**

_Sonic the hedgehog is just finishing a game of hide and seek with all of Iruka's students. He was the seeker and the kids were hiding. He found them in no time, their hiding places weren't that good. Not that he'll tell the little runts that. _

"_Alright!" Sonic stretched and then looked at all the others. "What game should we play next?" The sun's rays shone down on the playground and a gentle cool breeze fluttered loose clothing and strands of hair as silence filled the air._

_A brown haired girl with blonde highlights shot her hand in the air. "Ooo, ooo! Pick me, pick me!"_

_Sonic saw her in his peripherals and pretended to look worried. "Well...if no one has a suggestion…it's gonna be time to go back inside-"_

"_NO! No! Pick meee!" The young girl hopped up and down, trying to get Sonic to pay attention to her._

_Said hedgehog chuckled and, after deciding he should acknowledge her before she blew a gasket, bent down to her height. "Alright, what game do you have in mind?"_

_She beamed up at him. "Let's play Ring around the Rosie!" Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "My mommy and daddy play that with me a lot!"_

_Sonic gave her a smile. "Sure, we can play that." He then stood up and held his arms at his side, hands opened. "Come on everyone! Join hands and get in a circle!"_

_The kids obediently do so, the girl with highlights and the tallest triplet taking Sonic's hands, the right and left respectively. _

_After he looked around, Sonic nodded. "Ok! We start on three! One…two…three!"_

**Tazuna POV (aka: The bridge builder from the Land of Waves)**

The blazing sun is starting to set over the horizon, the temperature lowering with it. Soft pinks and oranges replace the blue the sky once was, painting the clouds within it a multitude of colors. The faint shine of stars twinkle in the dusk sky.

The splashing water below reflects the hues, making it almost impossible to tell the two apart. There is an occasional ripple where a fish would break the surface only to dive under once more. A cool wind blows across the water and bridge, the light natural fog shifting a bit with the flow before settling down again.

Taking a deep breath, my nose picks up the unique smell of the sea before letting a long sigh escape my mouth. I'm leaning on the railing of the Great Naruto Bridge, just taking in the sight of the serene waters. The footsteps of commoners wanting to enjoy the view as I am and traveling merchants are heard behind me. The sound just makes me smile; the Land of Waves improved economy is because of me, and those Leaf ninja, of course.

No one is starving anymore. Not one child is on the streets begging for food, just scraping by on leftovers. The mood around here isn't depressed and hopeless, but lively and cheerful. People can do throughout the day not worrying what their next meal was going to be, and when.

I sigh contently again when the light fades completely only for a moment before the lamp posts blink on, removing the temporary dark blanket placed on the village. Straightening up, I give the moving waters another glance before walking toward the beginning of the bridge, where the shops begin. My hand reaches up and fixes my hat that was pushed to the side by the weak gusts.

I was going to go home to Tsunami and little Inari after that little visit to the Land of Waves new landmark, but…spending some cash and getting home a couple minutes later won't hurt, right?

Didn't think so.

"_Ring-a-round the Rosie,"_

Walking into the main part of town, many civilians wander about, going into stores or just looking for some entertainment on this clear, warm, young night. There are couples chatting about random things, groups of students complaining about the homework, and the occasional whine from a young child wanting something they couldn't have.

I chuckle when I walk by the latter situation. A black haired mother is trying to persuade her son not to get any ice cream tonight.

"Mommyyyy! I want chocowate i'cream!" The same colored hair boy stomps his foot on the ground, pointing at the amused teenage girl running the creamery.

The mom sighs and looks down at her son. "Ichirou…we've talked about this…"

Ichirou pulls out the puppy eyes. "But pweasse!"

The woman's eyebrow twitches. "It's too late for ice cream. You will never go to sleep and growing boys need that. Don't you want to be big and strong like your father?"

The son stops to think, "Hmmm, nope!"

A tick forms on her head and she squats down to the kid's level. Putting her hands on Ichirou's shoulders, she sighs again. "Alright, how about this. If we go home without any ice cream, you can get one of the lollipops in the pantry."

Ichirou's eyes sparkle. "Ok! Ok! Let's hurry and go home now!"

With a smile, the mom stands up and offers a hand for the son to take. He grabs it and they walk off the opposite way I'm going, but not before I hear the women mutter to herself, "Glad he doesn't remember we ran out of those a week ago…"

Grinning, I continue to walk down the street, sometimes waving at friends and co-workers, even some strangers. I'm pretty well known here, besides the fact that I built the bridge to help the village. As a carpenter, I've helped many people to build many various structures. From dog houses to regular ones.

"Hey, Tazuna!"

Pausing mid-step, I turn on my heel to see one of my subordinates, Kenta. He's nothing out of the ordinary, black t-shirt with grey shorts and brown, shaggy hair. He stops right in front of me, panting on his knees. After a moment, he straightens up and takes a deep breath. Kenta is also sweating a bit.

"Kenta, how's it going?"

Said worker wipes some moisture off his forehead. "Pretty good, pretty good."

I nod. "What are doing around here? Not just to seek me out, I'm sure."

He smiles sheepishly. "That's actually the reason. Sorry for not being at work today without letting you know beforehand."

I wave him off. "Eh, it's alright. I know something important had come up."

Kenta perks up at that. "_Very _important! My wife had our child today!"

My eyes widen. "Really? Congratulations!" I've known that his wife was pregnant because he had told me the day he found out. But has it already been nine months? Time sure does fly. "So, is it a boy or a girl?"

"A healthy baby boy! Got good looks just like his father." He smirks. "His name is KJ, Kenta Jr."

I chuckle. "How's the wife doing?"

"She's fine, but she's so attached that she won't even let me hold 'em!" He throws his hands up in mock exasperation.

"Don't worry, you'll get to, eventually." I pat him on the shoulder. "If that's all you need to tell me, you need to go home and pry your son away from that clingy wife of yours."

Kenta smiles and turns around. He looks back over his shoulder. "I'll go do just that. Oh, and uh…I won't be at work for a couple of days. You understand, right?"

"Yeah, just go ahead. See ya in a couple."

He raises his hand in a goodbye and runs down the street until I can't see him anymore over the crowd. Shaking my head, I continue my journey to a specific little store. The crowd gets less dense as I go along to the less populated side of town.

In about five minutes, I'm standing in front of my destination. Grinning like a child on Christmas morning, my feet carry me into the store only to get hit with the scent of my favorite drink.

Sake.

Hey, I'm not a drunk! I just like to get tipsy, sometimes.

Walking to the counter, the owner smirks at me. "Ah! My number one customer has returned! Here for the usual?"

"Of course."

"Alright, three bottles of sake, coming up!"

I look around the store filled with different kinds of alcoholic drinks while he ducks under the counter for my own and realize that I'm the only customer here. Guess he isn't busy like he used to be. The owner pops back up with a brown paper bag with three bottle sized bulges.

"Here you go." I take the bag and give him the correct amount of ryo. He grabs it and I turn around to leave the shop. "Come back soon!"

"You know it!"

Shutting the door behind me, I start to walk in the direction of my house, but not without opening a bottle and taking a swig from it. "Ah!" I sigh contently as the familiar taste goes down my throat. "Nothing like good ol' sake!"

After another five minutes of walking, I'm about half way done with my first bottle. I'm back at the more populated part of the village and am about to turn to go to the route to my house when a man points up to the sky.

"What is that?" Everyone nearby, including me, glances at him and then follow his finger to where he's pointing.

I blink.

I blink again.

O-kaaaayy, if it wasn't for everyone seeing what I'm seeing right now, I would've considered stop drinking sake for a while.

What the man is pointing at is a _very_ bright yellow light in the dark sky plummeting towards us. I squint. It can't be a shooting star, it's too small. Wait…if I look closely, (as close I can get from the _ground_) I can make out the outline of a figure in the middle of the yellow streak.

Coming _right at us._

"MOVE!" I yell at the top of my lungs. The people just stare at me, shocked. Anger quickly raising, I try again. "What are you standing around here for? MOVE! That thing is _coming right at us!_"

Then there is an uproar noise as people scatter around, trying to get out the line of fire. I run away, helping an elderly woman that was out buying some groceries get out of the way faster. I'm lucky, because the ball of light crashes down exactly where I was ten seconds ago.

The crowd gasps as dust and debris fly into the air. I inhale some and cough to try and dislodge the foreign substance from my lungs. My eyes start to sting as well when I closed them too late to block out the dust. Vision blurry, I blink a few times and then squint until the disturbed land has settled again.

When it does, I'm taken back by the huge, deep crater formed in the middle of the street. A road made up of strong _concrete. _No one around speaks a single word, all is silent.

Then bone-chilling laughter resonates from inside and I tense, wanting but not wanting at the same time to see who or _what_ just crash landed in the Land of Waves. Seconds pass with eerie silence, the atmosphere is so thick that it could be cut easily with a knife.

The laughter dies down to a low chuckle as a figure steps out of the hole. I almost flinch back at the horrid image. In the corner of my eye, parents are covering their children's eyes from the…the…I don't even know what to make of this…_thing._

"_A pocket full of posies,"_

It stands about three feet tall with red shoes on its feet and black fingerless gloves on its hands. The figure looks most similar to a hedgehog, or a porcupine, but I've never seen one stand so similar to a human. The fur covering its body, except for his stomach, which is a cream color, is a bright yellow, a glow emanating from it. Its head quills are stickling straight up, so are its back ones. There are small black flames stretching across half of its face.

It has eyes with no pupils, but red spirals going through out them. Those eyes are searching the crowd, soaking in the surprised and scared faces. The claws at the end of each hand are sharp and the quills aren't clean cut, but all over the place. There is also a wide devious smirk showing off large canines.

Then comes the blood.

There are blood stains _all over _this animal. From the muzzle, to the claws, to the stomach area. I'm starting to feel a bit queasy. Worst of all, it doesn't even seem to notice the red stains covering most of its body. The rancid stench of the being smacks me in the face and I drop my precious bottles of sake to quickly cover my nose. I almost wince as I hear the resounding shattering of the glass on the concrete. Looking down, the liquid is filtering out of the bag and running along the cracks in the ground. There goes that…

However, it seems like the sound of the glass snaps someone out of their stupor because one brave soul pushes to the front of the crowd the takes a step forward. The being shifts its eyes towards the newcomer.

The man crosses his arms. "Who, or what are you?" He examines the creature up and down and then scowls at the sight.

The rodent puts one hand on its hip and stares at the man with the same smirk. "I don't need to tell you my name." That is definitely a male voice…wait.

It can talk?

"That animal can talk?" People mutter close to me.

"You can talk?!" The man asks, completely caught off guard.

"Does it matter that I can? Does it matter what I am?" The smirk grows tremendously and I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this guy. "It doesn't." The glowing being then floats to get eye level with the man and I can tell that he's struggling to not take a step back so he won't damage his pride. "Do you want to play a game?"

The man blinks in confusion. "Wha…?"

The hovering rodent then turns to all of the crowd, ignoring the question. "Let's make it a village wide game!" He then scratches his chin, a few flakes of dried blood falling off. "Hm…what game shall it be?" He snaps that same hand. "I got it! Let's play hide and seek. I'm it. You better find a good hiding spot, because you don't want to lose."

No one moves, not even the man.

A golden eyebrow raises. "Oh? You don't believe me? The penalty for being a loser…" Then, without hesitation, he plunges a clawed hand into the man's chest and blood spurts out everywhere, landing on the rodent. Said being's smirk widens enough to cover half its face. He then pulls the hand out, and to my disgust and horror, holding the heart of the once living man. The now dead corpse drops to the ground. Focusing on the hand with the heart, I see it squeeze tightly, draining the red from the organ. The hedgehog throws his head back and cackles. "IS DEATH! _HAHAHA!_"

All hell breaks loose.

Everybody is running full speed in all directions. Adults carrying kids and even some of the elderly to put some distance in between them and the homicidal rodent. While they do that, I just stare in complete shock at the cooling corpse of the man that was alive not three minutes ago. That _monster _just…killed him…like that…?

"You have three minutes!" The yellow figure yells out, almost singing the four words.

I glance up at him to see those swirled eyes boring into mine. I can see the pure evil and malicious intent of this animal. Why does this have to happen to our small village, and just to think that tonight was a perfect night…

"Run." I snap out of my thoughts to see him grinning at me. He is starting to float slowly towards me. "Run…hehehehe…for your life!"

I don't need to be told twice.

Sprinting away, I glance over my shoulder to see the murderer looking away from me, towards the bridge. Slowing down a bit seeing that he isn't paying any attention to me, I follow his gaze to find that there are some people crossing the Great Naruto to escape this soon to be hell.

Hearing low growling, my eyes focus back onto the rodent glaring daggers at those people. "Cheaters…" He mumbles to himself, then deviously smiles. "No matter, I'll take care of them."

He raises far off the ground and, in less than a second, is floating by the bridge. From here, all he looks like is a bright yellow dot the size of the moon. Then the dot backs up a bit before flying straight into the structure and smashing it to pieces. On the other side, he turns around and does it again, making sure all the standing parts are falling into the rough waters below.

I gasp as I see and hear people scream when they go down into the sea. But the psycho killer isn't done yet. He holds out an arm and a bright beam out light shoots out of it. The beam is aimed randomly in the water and I can hear the psychotic laughter from here. This goes on for a couple more seconds before the light is cut off. The yellow dot zips back into the village.

I frantically search the water from afar.

No one breaks the surface.

Oh _God…_

That was the only way out of here. Wait-unless…

I spin around and continue towards my house, my _family_. They have no idea what's going on out here. I have to get to them before that _monster _does…!

The village's buildings start to disappear as my aged legs carry me as quickly as they can to my house in the woods. This is the one time I'm thankful that we are located so far away from civilization.

Sweat rolls down my face and my lungs are working harder and harder to take in air. My legs are beginning to cramp. I have only one minute left, I can't give out now!

Then I hear the distant yells and screams of the villagers and my heart nearly stops. The sound of buildings collapsing and being smashed into echoes in the air. That crazed laugh is still being replayed in my ears…

When I finally get to my front door, my fist pounds at it, fast and hard. After about ten seconds, my daughter, Tsunami, opens the door with a worried expression on her face. "Father, why are you knocking so hard?" She then gets a good look at me. "And why are you all sweaty?"

"There isn't any time to explain!" I quickly push her back into the house and cup my hands around my mouth. "Inari? Inari!" Whirling back around, my hands grasp Tsunami's shoulders and give her a small shake. "Where is Inari?"

"Uh…" She's obviously in shock at my behavior.

"Hurry! This is important!"

"He's…He's upstairs!" I let her go and run to the bottom of the stairs. She steps closer to me, eyebrows scrunched in confusion. Then there is a low rumble of a building collapsing and the muffled yells of hapless citizens. Tsunami turns her head to the door at the sound. "What's going on out there?"

I glance at her. "I'll tell you when Inari gets down here. _Inari!"_

There are rapid footsteps upstairs and eventually Inari is standing at the top of them. He's looking down at me worriedly. "What's happening granddad?" He slowly comes down the stairs. "I've heard some noises outside…"

"That what I came back to tell you about." I take a deep breath to slow my still rapidly beating heart. "We need to leave the Land of Waves, _now._"

"Why!?" My daughter and grandson chorus.

"I'll explain later!" I exclaim, looking in between the two of them. "Just pack up one bag with as much things you can stuff into it. We need to move before _it_ finds us!"

"What is 'it'?"

I guide Tsunami up the stairs and push her and Inari up them. "I'll explain _later_ Inari! Go pack up now! I say we have less than ten minutes to leave this house!"

Without any further protest, from confusion or from my unnatural pushiness, I have no clue, they run up to the second floor and into their rooms. I follow them and turn into my room, squatting down by my bed and pulling out a black book bag with multiple compartments.

Grunting, I toss the backpack onto my bed and hastily unzip the biggest one. Pushing me glasses back to the right position on my face, I quickly shuffle to my closet and grab the clothes my hands touch first. Careful to get shirts and pants, I throw them on the bed.

Next, my feet half run/half jog over to my dresser on the other side of the room and pull out some boxers. Getting three or four of them, (I wasn't really counting) I rush back to my bed and start to pack every cloth into the bag. More rumbles paired with agonizing screams echo in the air and I cringe, picking up my already fast pace.

Finally finishing, I drop put on the backpack and dash out of the room into the hallway. The other two are still in their rooms. "Are you two almost done?"

As an answer, Inari's and Tsunami's doors open and they step out, backpacks on. They look at me waiting for the next instructions. I sigh, "Ok, now I can tell you what's going on." My hand runs through my hair, I packed up my hat. "I don't know if you'll believe me, but there is a monster out their killing people in our village. That's where the screaming is coming from. And if I would take a guess, the rumbling is the animal smashing into homes and buildings making them collapse."

Inari starts to tremble and Tsunami holds him at her side. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! I saw it with my own eyes! He was covered in blood…"

My daughter covers Inari's ears. "That's enough! I get it." She uncovers the shivering boy's ears. "What are we going to do? Where are we going to go after crossing the bridge?"

I let out a tired sigh. "That's a problem, the bridge isn't there anymore."

She gasps. "What…?"

"That monster destroyed it just like that." I snap proving how fast the landmark went down.

"T-then how are we going to leave, granddad?"

My eyes shift downwards at him. "We are going to take the boats by the bridge, or where it once was, that no one but a couple people know about. Hopefully those are still intact so we can cross the sea and hide in the fog so he can't see us. After we hit land, we'll travel to Konoha."

Inari sniffles. "But, don't we have to go _through_ the village to get there?"

My heart skips a couple of beats.

_I forgot about that…_

Swallowing the baseball sized lump in my throat, I answer, "You're right. We are just going to have to be _really_ stealthy, just like ninjas. Remember those ninja who helped get rid of Gato?"

His eyes light up. "Of course I remember them! Especially Naruto!"

"Ok, we have to be just like them."

"I'll try granddad."

Nodding, I glance back up to Tsunami. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, we have to get out of here to safety…"

I then gesture to them to hurry and follow me downstairs and out of the house. Outside, the sky is clouded with the raising smoke from the continuing destruction of the town.

"_Ashes! Ashes!"_

The hysterical laughter fills the air and I see my daughter and grandson cringe. The former turns to me. "Is that…?"

"Yes it is."

She audibly gulps and holds Inari close to her again.

"Ok, here's the plan." I turn and whisper at them. I don't know, but whispering seems important right now. I point down to the village and see the yellow dot flying around and dive bombing randomly, a screech following afterwards. "We have to travel around the outskirts of the village and try to stay out of sight of that monster. We will eventually make it to the docks and hopefully there will still be a boat waiting for us."

"H-Hopefully?" Inari whimpers.

I shake my head. "No, there _will _be a boat waiting." I pause, then smile softly. "Believe it."

Inari returns the smile and with that I start to walk back to the village, the other two trailing closely behind me. "Remember to be as quiet as possible. Be a ninja."

Silence reigns as we travel down to the once prospering town. After ten minutes of walking, the distinctive stench of blood enters my nose and I can tell it entered the others' too because of the soft noises of disgust coming from them. "Shh…" I warn just loud enough for them to hear me.

We've made it to wear the town officially began and I see that the damage is way more than I have predicted. There is smoke rising from buildings that have been completely stomped to the ground. The homes and shops are left in different conditions. Some are nothing but rumble while some are just missing a wall or two. But that doesn't make this situation any better.

Glancing down the streets, they are anything but empty. Bloodied corpses are littered all over the roads. They each have a unique way of how they died. Some are decapitated, some have holes in them, and some have fatal slashes everywhere on their bodies.

Feeling sick to my stomach, I look back to check on my family to see them both about to break down in tears. Turning all the way around, I hold my arms out and they run into them without hesitation.

"It's going to be alright." I mumble. "We are going to make it out of here."

Pulling back, I see them wiping their tears and I smile proudly. That smile disappears the rumble of a collapsing building sounds too close for my liking. My eyes harden. "We need to move."

They both nod, and I turn back around and head for the narrow alley ways behind the shambles, praying that this will be enough so we won't be spotted. Crouching a bit, we make our way through the dark back streets, almost no light filtering in from the lamp posts. Occasionally, we have to step over a bleeding out body sprawled out on the road.

Sometimes I hear the whimper of Inari, but Tsunami then follows with a soft hush or an 'it'll be over in a while'.

Continuing on these deserted streets, we pass by the rarity of a building that is still completely standing. Then I realize there is blood splattered all over it. Scrunching my nose up at the sight, I'm about to continue on, but then with a second look, my eyes discover that the red stains actually form letters.

'FWS'

_FWS?_ What does even mean? No doubt that rodent wrote that using the fluids of his victims…a shudder goes through my body at the mere thought.

Forgetting about the questionable writing, I shuffle forwards a couple more feet before my blood freezes at the too familiar voice.

"Hahaha! There's no running from me! No one can be faster than Sonic the hedgehog! _Hehehe…"_

A cold sweat forms on my forehead and my ears hear a gasp from behind me. Glancing backwards, Tsunami and Inari are shaking in fear. I move my hands in a soothing gesture. 'Calm down…' We don't need them freaking out right now.

Footsteps sound nearby and we all turn to the direction it's coming from. Facing ahead, my ears pinpoint the foot falls to where this narrow alley meets the one of the main streets. As the noise nears, a harsh breathing can be heard as well.

"All of your running is in _vain!" _Says the monster, Sonic, with a hint of laughter in his voice.

All of sudden, a woman appears in our line of sight. My eyes widen as I recognize her as the mother of that whining boy, Ichirou. She stops in front of the alley, but she doesn't notice the entrance yet. She's alone and I don't have to guess on what happened to her little boy.

She looks searches around frantically, looking for a hiding spot. Her eyes eventually spot the alley we are in, and our small group. She stares in shock for a moment before her face lights up. However, before she could step towards us and give our hiding place at the moment away, Sonic swoops down and kicks her out of sight. A wall is blocking the view now.

A thud is heard when the woman hits the ground. "No! Please spare me! I'll give me whatever you want!"

A dark chuckle sounds. "Hm…nope! And plus, what I want is your blood on my hands…."

A blood curdling scream pierces the air before it is replaced by a wet gurgle.

"Heehee…" Sonic snickers as I see him raise over the damaged wall. His claws are dripping with the thick, red liquid. "This is a fun game!" He then taps his chin with a sharp claw. "But, I know some are still out there hiding…" My stomach drops as the hedgehog gazes into the direction of my home. "I _did_ see that old man running in that direction before…" Sonic grins. "I may just have to go and check it out!"

A yellow streak of light signifies him leaving and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in the first place. "He's gone, for now." I whisper to Inari and Tsunami behind me then turn to face them. The former's eyes are puffy from crying and my daughter is still a bit distraught. "We have to quickly make it to the docks while Sonic is distracted." I eye both of them. "We are going to have to run." Tsunami nods, but Inari just keeps crying.

I bend down to his level and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Inari, we have to be strong or we won't make it out of this place. You do want to leave, right?"

With a sniffle, he mumbles. "Yes…"

"Then you have to be strong." He nods and I stand up again. "Alright, let's go."

With that order, we all run into the main road, in plain sight with our backpacks hitting our backs with every step. We go through many streets and narrow alleys before making it to our destination. The water there is tinted red from all the people killed that were on the bridge when it went down. Searching for our salvation, I eventually spot a lone paddle boat equipped with a motor (**AN-like the one team 7 rode to get to the village**) floating in the water.

But it is occupied.

It's too hazy to see clearly, but I can make out a man that is grabbing hold of an oar and is about to untie the boat from the dock. Panicking a bit that our only option of escaping was about to disappear, I call out, "Hey!" Knowing that the murderous hedgehog is too far away to hear me. The man in the boat stops moving.

Silence, then-

"Tazuna?"

I breathe a sigh of relief. It's Kenta.

"I know him." I whisper to the two behind me. "He's a co-worker of mine."

We all walk forward until we are within a meter of the boat. I raise a tired hand in a lackluster greeting. "Yeah, it's me."

Now that we are closer, I can see how worn out he looks. His clothes are a mess and his hair is dirty. His face isn't much better, there is even a couple of blood stains on it.

Kenta shifts his brown eyes to my family over my shoulder, then back at me. He gives a sad smile. "Guess y'all had the same idea of using the boats, huh?" He gestures us to climb aboard and we do so without hesitation. I offer to do the paddling, but he says he can handle it. We slowly pull away from the land and row out into the fog covered sea. We ride in silence for a while.

"So, where are your wife and boy?" I ask watching Inari lean his head on Tsunami's shoulder, closing his eyes.

Kenta growls deeply in his throat and grips the oar tightly, glaring at nothing. "That _monster," _He spat with enough venom to kill an elephant. "killed both of them _right in front of me…_" Tsunami gasps and my eyes widen. Kenta's eyes are now hidden by his brown shaggy bangs.

"He…" Kenta sniffs. "He caught us on our way here. He snapped my wife's neck with no remorse. I guess I should be happy she didn't feel anything." He growls again. "Can't say the same for KJ though, I was forced to watch and endure his screams of torture as that demon slowly cut open my…_baby_…_boy_…" A wrecked sob escapes Kenta's throat. I just sit there, listening, not knowing what to say.

Kenta humorlessly chuckles. "You know, I actually begged him to kill me." He looks at me and his eyes are filled to the brim with despair. "So I could be with them. But, he just laughed in my face, saying that even though he wanted my blood, there were fates worse than death. He then just flew off, leaving me sobbing over my loved ones." He sighs and stops rowing; he then offers the paddle to me. "Can you do this? I…I just can't right now."

Without a second thought, I take hold of the oar and start to propel the boat forward. Nobody says another word for the rest of the trip to the other side.

When we hit land again, we all hastily hop off the boat and a soft smile forms on my face. Hearing clapping behind me, I look back to see Inari full of joy, the tears of before forgotten. "We made it granddad!"

I lightly chuckle and hug the little runt. "We sure did." Feeling another arm hugging me, I glance over to see Tsunami with tears flowing down her face, not of sadness, but of joy. However, gazing past her, Kenta eyes are looking at us, glazed over. Sighing, I stand up out of the hugs and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I know this isn't easy for you." I say softly and he slowly focuses on me. My own eyes harden. "We have to get to the Hidden Leaf so they can handle that monster that destroyed our home."

A spark of life flickers in those dull eyes. "Yeah, we are the only survivors who can tell what had happened there. We have to stop that thing from hurting anyone else."

I give him a grin. "That's what I'm talking about!" My hand drops to my side. "We have a long journey in store for us, but we will get to Konoha eventually."

Kenta nods and gestures ahead. "Lead away…you're the one who knows the way."

I snort and walk ahead, the soft footsteps of the others following. The moonlight filtering from above provides just enough light to see where I'm going, and to not run into any trees. We are quiet, just listening to the natural nightly sounds.

This goes on for about five minutes before I hear the sound of a body hitting the ground behind me.

I freeze mid-step.

There is another.

And another.

Turning around slowly, my heart nearly stops when I see Kenta, Inari, and Tsunami on the ground, bleeding out from the deep gashes in their chests. The life is fleeing from their open eyes. No….

No, no, no, no, _no! _I thought we were safe!

I'm about to take a step towards the dying corpses, but a bone-chilling cackle resonates from behind me.

"_We…all…fall…down."_

"Found you."

_Children's laughter filled the air._


End file.
